Pakistan reinstated Younis Khan as captain for the Champions Trophy on Saturday just hours before the team was due to leave for the tournament in India, said the new chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Younis had withdrawn from the captaincy on Thursday saying he did not want to be a 'dummy captain' and the PCB appointed Mohammad Yousuf in his place as stand-in skipper for the tournament.
Naseem Ashraf, the new PCB chairman, told a news conference in Lahore that Younis had agreed to lead the side again and Yousuf would now be vice-captain.
On Friday, in another unexpected development, Shaharyar Khan resigned the PCB chair citing the Oval Test fiasco and Younis's resignation as the reason for his decision.
"Younis has agreed to lead the side again after I spoke to him and explained things to him," Ashraf said.
"Younis has been appointed captain only for the Champions Trophy. The Board will review the situation after the tournament," he added.
Ashraf said Younis had been brought back as captain because he felt he could unite the team.
"Our main concern at this stage was to unite the team. I spoke to Yousuf and he had no problems with the change," he added.
Ashraf also said leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed had been "released" as assistant coach for the Champions Trophy.
Mushtaq had been named assistant coach despite reservations from the International Cricket Council over his appointment because of his role in the match-fixing scandal six years back.
"We felt there is no need for an assistant coach with the team at this stage so Mushtaq has been released," Ashraf told Reuters.
Younis said he had spent the last few days enduring great mental strain and had agreed to take the captaincy again as he had a lot of respect for Ashraf.
"I just hope we can now put everything behind us and try to do well in the tournament," Younis said.
"I know the last two days have also been hard on the people who wanted to know why I had left the captaincy," he said.
