Pakistan's Younus Khan has ban overturned on appeal

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Former Pakistan captain Younus Khan is free to return to international cricket after the indefinite ban he received for ill-discipline during the side's tour of Australia was overturned by an appeals judge on Saturday.

Retired judge Irfan Qadir, who was nominated by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to reside over the appeals of all but one of seven players the body either banned or fined in March, said there were no grounds for the ban on the batsman.

"The PCB gave an open handed judgement while banning Younus. He was not given a chance to defend himself," Qadir told the media after the hearing in Lahore.

The shambolic Australia tour, where Pakistan lost every match, led the PCB to slap bans on Younus, fellow former captains Muhammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik and paceman Rana Naved following a probe into reports of disunity among the touring party.

"It is a big victory for us as my client didn't back down from his argument that there was no justification for the ban on him," Younus's lawyer Ahmed Qayyum told Reuters.

As well as the four bannings, the inquiry committee also recommended fines for Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal for indiscipline and misconduct on the tour.

Yousuf, who led Pakistan in Australia, responded by announcing his retirement but the remaining six players appealed against the penalties and last week Qadir overturned Malik's ban.

The retired judge also revoked Afridi's Rs 3 million ($35,269) fine and halved those of the Akmal brothers.