Pakistan's Younis gets clearance to play in Australia

KARACHI (Reuters) - Pakistan batsman Younis Khan will leave early next month to play for South Australia in their domestic season.

Younis has decided to skip the national Twenty20 championship beginning on Oct. 4 in Lahore and is doubtful for the international Twenty20 event in Toronto which also features Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Canada.

"Younis has taken clearance from the board before he signed his contract with South Australia," Zakir Khan, director of cricket operations for the Pakistan board said.

"He is due to leave soon. But he has to make himself available for national duty when he is required," Zakir Khan said.

Younis will be the only top player missing from the Twenty20 domestic championship which will feature all the Pakistan players including fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar who has been given permission to play by the board after a legal row over the payment of a seven-million-rupee ($247,600) fine.