The Pakistan Cricket Board, (PCB), announced today that former cricket captains, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf, have both been banned for life from the national team. In what seems to be a concentrated effort to step up discipline on the team, the board cited the two men’s infighting as the main reason.

In a statement the board said that the effect of this seeped throughout the team and affected their play and was a “bad influence on the whole team” and that both Younis and Yousuf “should not be part of national team in any format”.

The Pakistan team’s recent tour of Australia was dismal, resulting in the loss of all their matches and a ball-tampering row. In November Younis had resigned as captain amid concerns he had lost authority. Yousuf was then made captain but failed to pull the team together. The punishments were the results of a 6 man inquiry into the team’s performance.

According to the Press Association, Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul Hasan were also given one-year bans by the PCB whilst Shahid Afridi who was involved in the ball tampering incident was fined and placed on probation for 6 months. Kamran and Umar Akmal were also both fined five million rupees because of indiscipline. Are you shocked by the life bans on the two former captains? Does this seem an over-reaction from the Board, or maybe you feel they deserved their punishment?