Pakistan captain Younus Khan has hit back at allegations of match-fixing against some of his players.

The Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed last week that the International Cricket Council was investigating claims of the presence of suspected bookmakers in the Pakistan team hotel in Colombo.

Several former Pakistan players, including former chief selector Abdul Qadir, then accused some members of the squad of being involved in match-fixing.

Younus, who presided over Pakistan's 2-0 loss in the three-match Test series and a 3-2 defeat in the one-day series against Sri Lanka, said his players should be applauded for flagging up their suspicions rather than accused of being involved.

"I approached the team manager Yawar Saeed after players had complained about the presence of suspicious people in our hotel," Younus said.

"We were unhappy because we had a bad feeling about these people so we told the manager to either shift us to another floor or have them shifted.

"Instead of accusing our players of match-fixing, they should be applauded for bringing this to the notice of the authorities.

"Because of these unfounded allegations, players will think twice before reporting things like this to the management.

"If we inform the management we are still accused of match-fixing and if we don't we are still under suspicion, so why bother?"

Younus insists the players have no motive to fix matches given they are in a well-paid profession.
"Match-fixing may have been possible in the '80s and '90s because of low pay for players, but now it's different," Younus said.

"Now players earn as much as seven to eight lakh rupees (about £5100-£5800) per match so I don't think they would want to get involved in this.

"Speaking for myself, I wouldn't like to earn my living by sacrificing my self-respect and honour and getting involved in corruption."