Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik has dismissed reports about a move by some senior players to oust him from the skipper's job.
Referring to reports that senior players like Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi and even vice-captain Misbah-ul-Haq were interested in becoming captain, Malik said he didn't see any threat to his captaincy.
"I think if there is any such move, it will die down with time. Because I never asked for the captaincy. I only accepted it as a challenge and for the national team," he said.
Media reports have said that with changes expected in the cricket board after the resignation of Chairman Nasim Ashraf, some senior players were lobbying to get Malik removed as captain.
Afridi has denied any such move but confirmed there were problems with Malik's captaincy and the existing culture in the dressing room.
But Malik made it clear he had never expressed the desire to become Pakistan captain.
"When they offered me the captaincy I accepted it as a challenge and even now I consider the performance of the team more important then my individual performances," he said.
He said his own performance as captain was before everyone and he had done his best to set an example for the other players.
"I have tried to lead by example as captain," he said. Malik said he was not bothered by media reports about a move to remove him as captain and said these would only spur him on to perform better and better and lift the team's performances.
The Pakistan skipper said it was disappointing that his team was not getting too many opportunities to play international cricket.
"The postponement of the Champions Trophy has not helped and we are hoping the board can arrange the tri-series in South Africa. We just cannot sit idle for so long. We have got no Test matches this year and we are hungry for more cricket. But we can only try to give our best in whatever type of competition the board arranges for us," Malik said.
