Playing in UAE will damage our cricket, says Mohammad Yousuf

Aug 3, 2016 at 5:58 PM

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Playing in UAE will damage our cricket, says Mohammad Yousuf

Former Pakistan batsman, Mohammad Yousuf has warned the Pakistan Cricket Board to stop hosting its matches in UAE in order to save Pakistan cricket. Pakistan has not played a single Test in their country after a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in 2009. The former skipper believes that the players will find it tough to play on all kind of pitches if they keep on playing on flat pitches of UAE.

“Playing on the flat and low-bounce pitches of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai has already affected our cricket and our players, and if we don’t stop organising our series there it will eventually damage our cricket,” he told the Press Trust of India on Wednesday (August 3). “If it is all about creating records, fine. But it is not helping our cricket in any way and we will stop producing players capable of playing on any surface in a few years’ time if we continue playing our home series in UAE.”

Yousuf said that playing in Sri Lanka or Bangladesh will be a better option since their pitches are more suitable for cricket.

“Let us be straight, so far we have not encountered any typical English pitch in the ongoing series,” he said. “Sri Lanka or Bangladesh are far better options as conditions there are more suited for cricket.”

Meanwhile, Yousuf also warned against the overdose of T20 cricket. Citing West Indies’ example, Yousuf said that the shortest format will eventually damage Pakistan’s cricket.

“T20 cricket, if allowed to be held uncontrolled, will also eventually damage our cricket and our players and we will end up like the West Indies is struggling now in the longer format. T20 not a format where which can produce technically sound players,” he said.

“At present, there is a mushrooming of T20 cricket so much so that even at the club level and schools level there is too much emphasis on T20 cricket. We need to have more 40 over and 50 over games at the lower level or we wouldn’t produce technically sound players.

“If we find competent players in first class or 50-over matches we will automatically also discover players who can do well in T20 cricket.”

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