Khan resigns as Pakistan chairman

Khan (left) has quit as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board

Shaharyar Khan has resigned as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Khan's decision follows the refusal of Younis Khan to stand in as captain for Inzamam-ul-Haq, who received a four-match ban after the Oval affair.

Dr Naseem Ashraf, a government adviser and member of the board's ad-hoc committee, is tipped to take over.

"Yes, I am hurt because of the recent events like the Oval Test and Younis Khan fiascos," said Khan, a former Pakistan foreign secretary.

"I thought this is the right time to step down and pass the responsibility to someone else. The Younis Khan episode has hurt me more than the Oval fiasco."

Khan, a lifelong diplomat and Cambridge University graduate, took over in 2003 against a backdrop of allegations of nepotism and kickbacks during the tenure of his predecessor, retired general Tauqir Zia.

The 72-year-old is the nephew and cousin of the two Nawabs of Pataudi, who both played Test cricket for India and captained the national team.

There were unconfirmed reports that three or four players were not willing to play under Younis Khan as captain Shahid Hashmi Pakistani journalist

He has overseen a period of unprecedented stability in Pakistan cricket but the situation has become volatile in recent weeks.

Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer paid a glowing tribute to Khan, the man who appointed him.

"He's done a wonderful job for Pakistan. Without any argument, he is the best chairman that I have worked with in my 20 years as a coach," Woolmer told Cricinfo.

"I think he handled the Inzamam affair and the Younis affair brilliantly and it is very sad to lose such a fantastic and wise counsel.

"I think he thought that he didn't need this sort of aggravation at this stage in his life and that is fair enough. He is a great loss to Pakistan cricket."

Woolmer hit back at talk that unstable times lie ahead.

I don't think the Oval incident should have happened Shaharyar Khan

"Good things are happening in Pakistan cricket despite recent events - any talk of a change in captaincy is pure speculation," he said.

Younis had been expected to deputise for Inzamam but told a news conference he refused to be a "dummy captain".

Meanwhile, Inzamam's refusal to take his players back on to the pitch during the fourth Test against England at The Oval, after they were docked five runs for ball-tampering, led to Pakistan forfeiting the match.

The captain was cleared of ball-tampering in a subsequent hearing but the Pakistan board came under fire from former captain Asif Iqbal for their handling of the situation.

"I don't think the Oval incident should have happened. But once it did we had to take a stand and back our players," Shaharyar said.

The PCB also removed Zaheer Abbas as national team manager in the wake of the incident but another ex-skipper Javed Miandad said the decision "humiliated" Abbas and implied he was responsible for what happened at The Oval.

Following Khan's resignation, Pakistani journalist Shahid Hashmi told the BBC that the former chairman had been upset by recent events.

"I think he tried his level best [at The Oval] to convince the Pakistan team to go onto the field after five or 10 minutes token protest, but it lasted nearly 50 minutes which really hurt him," Hashmi told BBC Sport.

"Also, there were unconfirmed reports that three or four players were not willing to play under Younis Khan as captain. "The Pakistan Cricket Board were weak in dealing with the matter and that's why Shaharyar Khan resigned.

"Unfortunately the Pakistan Cricket Board is run by the president of Pakistan who has very little time to see to cricketing affairs."