Azeem Rafiq is in line to become the youngest man to captain Yorkshire in a competitive match tomorrow night at the age of 21, as well as the first of Asian origin.

The highly-rated off-spinner, born in Pakistan but raised in Barnsley, is expected to lead out his county in their latest Friends Life t20 match against Durham at the Riverside with Andrew Gale having suffered a hip-muscle injury in training.

Gale, the in-form left-handed batsman, has not yet been ruled out and will be assessed tomorrow afternoon before a final decision is taken on the Tykes' line-up.

But Adam Lyth is expected to be called upon to replace Gale, who has scored 70 and 39 in the last two matches, at the top of the order, with Phil Jaques as his opening partner.

It is a sign of just how highly Rafiq is thought of by the Yorkshire hierarchy, especially with far more experienced heads than him in the 14-man squad.

Rafiq has plenty of previous experience of captaincy, having led England's under-15 and under-19 sides, the latter at the World Cup in 2010.

He has also captained Yorkshire's second team this season and led first teams in pre-season friendlies, both at home and abroad.

Yorkshire go in search of their third win from four North Division matches, having beaten Leicestershire and Derbyshire on Sunday and Monday.

They also face current group leaders Nottinghamshire at Scarborough on Sunday afternoon.

"Hopefully we can keep our skills up and keep being consistent - that's the key to success in this competition," said Australian left-hander Jaques. "You don't want to be up one day and down the next.

"There are a lot of fixtures in clumps, like these two coming up. If you can get into a winning habit, it's got to be a good thing. They're two really crucial games. Hopefully we can push on after that as well."

Yorkshire lost last Friday's opening North Division match against Durham at Headingley by two runs when they narrowly failed to chase down a below par target of 143, having been reduced to 42-5.