LAHORE - Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ijaz Butt has made it clear that he has full confidence in the leadership abilities of Younis Khan and said there was no need to replace the national team captain. Butt's support to captain came amidst reports of a row between the chairman and the captain and also at a time when former sultan of swing Sarfraz Nawaz asked Younis to retire and hand the baton to Shahid Afridi. Butt said on Thursday that if the team performed well in the Champions Trophy there was every likelihood of Younis Khan will be given the captaincy on a long-term basis. "These rumours about the board having lost confidence in Younis Khan's captaincy is rubbish," he said. Younis said recently in an interview that he was fed up with elements trying to start a vilification campaign against him to strip him of the captaincy. "I have never run after the captaincy. But I will unmask these people who are trying to create differences between me and the other players and create discord in the team," Younis said. There have been rumours that the decision by Butt to appoint Shahid Afridi as vice-captain to Younis was taken as the all-rounder would eventually be made captain. But Butt made it clear that the only reason Afridi was given the vice-captaincy was to allow him to gain valuable experience before the T20 World Cup next year. "He is already the T20 team captain so we wanted him to gain some experience as deputy to Younis," Butt explained. The PCB Chairman said he had full trust and faith in Younis and had found him to be a honest and straight forward person. "He has the ability to lead from the front and he is established as our number three spot batsman. Plus he has good relations with the other players they respect him. All this talk about removing him is just rumours," Butt added. He said when he spoke to the players he found out that Younis had a good relation with them and was keen to consult and seek their advice in team meetings. "Younis has good leadership qualities. The team won the T20 World Cup under him and I am sure he can also lead the team well in the Champions Trophy," he said. "I have nothing in my mind about making changes in the captaincy or team," he insisted. He also felt Shahid Afridi could learn a lot from Younis while working with him and this would help Pakistan defend its T20 World title successfully in West Indies.