Younis dissociates himself from team selection

Younis Khan, standing in as captain for the injured Shoaib Malik, has dissociated himself from the decision to include Shoaib Akhtar in the playing XI for the second Test, saying such questions should be put to decision-makers and not to him.

"I am not captain here, nor the coach," Younis wrote in his column in the Hindustan Times on Sunday. "I've been asked about the decision to to play Shoaib who is obviously not well. I am not responsible for certain decisions that have been taken. I was informed on the morning of the match that I would lead the team and I'm doing my best in leading a team that has been given to me."

Shoaib Akhtar, who took six wickets in the first Test, was laid low by a chest infection ahead of the second match in Kolkata and was taken to hospital for treatment. Mohammad Sami was also suffering from a chest infection but both were included in the XI.

Younis also wrote that, had he been part of the decision-making process, he would have done things differently. But he admitted the coach and the manager were in an uncomfortable position at the start of the Test as Pakistan faced several injury problems. "[They had] to count bodies and see whether we could field a full team or not."

Younis has twice turned down the captaincy offer - in October 2006 just before the Champions Trophy and in April this year following Pakistan's exit from the World Cup. But he accepted the vice-captaincy for the tour of India, replacing Salman Butt in a role that he had played for nearly two years under Inzamam-ul-Haq.