Jawad Hussain / Ubaid-ur-Rehman Awan
KARACHI: Former skipper and world record holder middle order batsman, Mohammad Yousuf announced Monday to retire from international cricket ‘for now’ in protest against an indefinite ban by the Pakistan Cricket Board.
“As it stands, I am retiring from all forms of international cricket. That is final ‘for now’. As far as appealing against the indefinite ban imposed upon me by the board, I will decide on it in the coming days after consulting my friends”, a relaxed Mohammad Yousuf said at Karachi Press Club here.
“For me to stay in the Pakistani team will be detrimental to the cause of cricket in the country; that’s what the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has implied in a letter they sent me. But I know the media and the people know better. I would like to thank the people for always supporting me”, Yousuf said.
Yousuf refrained from directly criticising the Board’s decision but said, “I am still baffled by the decision of the PCB and I have nothing more to say in my defence for what it is a seemingly illogical decision by the board”.
“I always played for my country and if my playing is harmful for the team then I don’t want to play,” he said.
When asked about if it was Shoaib Malik’s role behind his decision to call it a day, Mohammad Yousuf said, “Yes, this might be the reason”.
The 35-year-old stylish middle order batsman played 88 Tests, nine as captain and scored 7,431 runs at an average of 53.07, including 24 centuries. He also scored 9,624 runs in 282 one-day internationals.
Former Pakistan captain and world record holder batsman Mohammad Yousuf on Monday announced he was to quit international cricket in protest against an indefinite ban.
Speaking at the Karachi Press Club Yousuf said:
“For me to stay in the Pakistani team will be detrimental to the cause of cricket in the country...that's what the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has implied in a letter they sent me. But I know the media and the people know better. I would like to thank the people for always supporting me.”
“I am still baffled by the decision of the PCB and I have nothing more to say in my defence for what it is a seemingly illogical decision by the board.”
“I always played for my country and if my playing is harmful for the team then I don't want to play,” he said.
“As it stands, I am retiring from all forms of international cricket. That is final. As far as appealing against the indefinite ban imposed upon me by the board, I will decide on it in the coming days.”
Commenting on Yousuf's announcement, Pakistan's prolific batsman and former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq said, “He should have thought about it a little more...we all know he's still got some years left in him. It seems to me that he just doesn't have the passion for the game anymore and rightly so after what the PCB has treated him like. But now that he has retired, I don't think he should reverse his decision.”
The 35-year-old Yousuf played 88 Tests, nine as captain and scored 7,431 runs at an average of 53.07, including 24 centuries. He also scored 9,624 runs in 282 one-day internationals.
Yousuf was third behind Javed Miandad (8,832 in 124) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (8,829 in 119) in all time run-getters for Pakistan in Tests and second behind Inzamam (11,701 in 375 matches) in one-day cricket.
But his greatest achievement was 1,788 Test runs in 2006 with nine hundreds -- the world record for most runs scored and hundreds in a calendar year, beating Viv Richards' 1976 record of 1,710 for the West Indies.
He also won International Cricket Council (ICC) Test player of the year in 2007.
Asked during Monday's news conference if he could rescind his decision, Yousuf said: “at the moment my playing in the team is harmful so I am quitting”.
“If I get time, I would love to play first class cricket and private leagues,” he later added.
Comments