Lahore, Mar.10 (ANI): Acting on the recommendations of the inquiry committee probing the disastrous tour Down Under, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday imposed a life term  ban on captain Mohammed Yousuf and experienced middle-order batsman Younis Khan and slapped hefty fines on various players, holding them responsible for the team’s pathetic show.

The PCB has also banned all-rounder Shoaib Malik and fast bowler Rana Naveed-ul-Hassan for one-year besides slapping a fine of two million rupees on each of them.

The board has also issued last warning to star all-rounder Shahid Afridi and wicket keeper Kamran Akmal and his batsman brother Umar Akmal for violating the player’s code of conduct during the winless tour of Australia.

While Afridi and Kamran have been fined three million rupees for their misconduct, the board has slapped a fine of two million dollars on Umar.

All these three players have also been placed on a six-month probation period, The News reports.

The reasons behind banning two of the most experienced cricketers (Younis, Yousuf) are still not known, but the PCB said it would be making  the inquiry committee’s report public in few days.

Yousuf was under tremendous pressure and had to face flak from all quarters for one of the most shoddy performance by Pakistan during Australia tour in recent years.

Younis, who had earlier stepped down as the captain of the squad saying he was not able to control the team, was recalled into the team for the five one-day internationals against the Kangaroos but failed to click any of the matches. 

Earlier, the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt had assured of strict action against ‘guilty’ players .

Butt said ‘significant’ action would be taken against those players who were found responsible for the poor performance of the team

“We are looking at fines and bans as punishment and the action that we will take will definitely be more than significant,” Butt told a website.

Butt said the probing committee has taken into account the statements of all the stakeholders and the action taken on the basis of its report would soon be made public.

“We will make public the actions that we take, not the report itself. But I can tell you that the report is very concrete. It has taken inputs from the reports of the captain, the coach, the manager. The committee called these people in as well and asked pertinent questions based on what they read. It is a solid document,” he said. (ANI)