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Younis is ready to lead Yorkshire

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Younis Khan, who shocked officials when he refused the Pakistan captaincy on Thursday, says he has agreed to captain English county Yorkshire next season.

Younis confirmed that Yorkshire had made him the offer through former captain Rameez Raja and that he had agreed to their terms and conditions.

"Hopefully the contract should be completed next week," Younis said.

But the club's chief executive, Stewart Regan, told BBC Sport: "We are in discussions with a number of overseas players, one of whom is Younis Khan.

"Nothing has been finalised at this stage but we hope to be able to make an announcement next week."

Younis said: "The club said they like my energy and the way I have captained in the past so hopefully we can be good for each other," he told the bigstarcricket Web site.

Younis upset Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials when he told a news conference on Thursday that he was not prepared to lead the side for the Champions Trophy tournament in India, which starts on Saturday.

He said he did not want to be "a dummy captain".

Regular captain Inzamam-ul-Haq is serving a four-match ban for bringing the game into disrepute during the fourth test against England at the Oval in August.

The PCB hastily named Mohammad Yousuf to lead the team in India instead and said Younis could face disciplinary proceedings.

"These last few days have been very difficult for me but I don't want to go into my reasons for doing what I did at this stage," Younis said.

"I know everyone must be wanting to know what is going on and why I gave up the captaincy on Thursday but I really just want to focus on the Champions Trophy at the moment, scoring runs and trying to win the competition for Pakistan."

Oval protest

Inzamam, who has been named captain for Pakistan's next home series against the West Indies starting next month, was banned after his team refused to continue the test at the Oval in protest at the umpire's decision to change the ball and penalize them five runs for alleged ball-tampering.

Inzamam was later cleared of the ball-tampering charges at an International Cricket Council (ICC) hearing.

Neither of the umpires involved in the Oval test row, Australian Darrell Hair and West Indian Billy Doctrove, has been selected on the panel for the Champions Trophy.

Yousuf told reporters that Thursday's events would not affect the team's chances in the Champions Trophy.

"I don't think Younis leaving the captaincy would change anything. We will play as a team and give our best because we know it is a big tournament and there are high expectations from us," he said.

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