da dobrowin： Mohammad Yousuf has issued a stark warning to Pakistan cricket of theimpending dangers of too much Twenty20 cricket
Osman Samiuddin in Melbourne31-Dec-2009
Too much Twenty20 cricket, Mohammad Yousuf has said, has affected the failure of the current players in the Pakistan team to adapt to the longer versions•Getty Images
Mohammad Yousuf has issued a stark warning of theimpending dangers of too much Twenty20 cricket, insisting that it is”necessary” that Pakistan plays as little of the format as possible.Otherwise, the Pakistan captain told Cricinfo, he believes the format will “finishPakistan’s cricket.”Yousuf’s counsel comes in the wake of Pakistan’s defeat toAustralia in the first Test in Melbourne, where their batsmen struggled on a placid pitch ina 170-run loss. Australia declared twice in the Test, but Pakistan werebowled out for 258 and 251 – the second after being 170-3. But his wordscome in a broader context: those totals continued a long run of sub-parperformances by the batsmen in the Test arena; in 14 Test innings now,they have crossed 350 only twice.They have struggled with their openers and their No.3 batsmen, and have beencaught in a number of Test collapses through the year in Sri Lanka, New Zealand and now Australia. As in Melbourne, a number of batsmen havesettled in, before getting themselves out. The failure, Yousuf believes, comes from Twenty20 cricket.”It [batting failures] used to happen before but now because of Twenty20cricket no player knows how to stay at the wicket anymore,” Yousuf toldCricinfo. “Batsmen are finding it very difficult. I know the format hasmoney, players get it and boards do but if Pakistan hypes up Twenty20 toomuch, Test and ODI cricket will really go down.”Pakistan are the reigning world champions in the format, having won theWorld Twenty20 in a stirring display in June in England. They reached thefinal of the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007 and have the best win-lossratio of all nations in the format. In Umar Gul, SaeedAjmal, Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq they have, arguably, the format’ssharpest game-changers.They were also one of the first countries to adopt the formatdomestically, holding wildly successful events in Lahore and Karachi in2005 and 2006, and the first three years of the tournament attracted whatmany believed to be the largest domestic crowds ever in Pakistan.Additionally, a number of their players had successful first seasons withthe IPL; they weren’t allowed to participate in tournament’s second edition, but a number of them are very keen to be involved next season and over 12 players have applied for a place in the auction. Afridi, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Gul and SohailTanvir have all played, or are playing Twenty20 cricket, for Australianstate sides as well.MS Dhoni’s response
da realbet： It is quite similar to the review system (UDRS). If the decisions are in your favour, you are okay with it, but when they go against you, you don’t really feel it is working. It is the same case with the Twenty20 format. I don’t think it would be great to blame the format. It is a mental approach that needs to change. The change of mindset is important. The basics remain the same.
Most Pakistanis are brought up on a diet of 20-over cricket at club andstreet level. That, Yousuf believes, has left much of the current cropunsuited to the longer, unique demands of Test cricket and even ODIcricket. “Both in Tests and ODIs we have problems,” Yousuf said. “Westruggle to bat 50 overs. Against New Zealand [in Abu Dhabi] we couldn’tmake 212 in 50 overs. Everyone played shots and got out.”Twenty20 is easy for Pakistanis because they know how to hit, nobodyknows how to defend. Until players do not play with discipline and playball to ball and leave balls they are supposed to we will struggle inODIs, let alone Tests. If you see a ball, hit it because you have toscore. But if you are going to slog all the time what is the point? Icould have hit jumping out but unless you get a ball to hit what is thepoint? That is the point of Test cricket. It is necessary that Pakistanis,the media, the board, the fans realise that we play as little Twenty20 aspossible.”One domestic tournament is enough and a World Cup apart from that, but mybelief is that you have to reduce Twenty20 heavily. They shouldn’t play itin club cricket – even there you play 20 overs, not 40-over matches. Ionly have 2-3 years left in my career but I worry Twenty20 will finishPakistan’s cricket.”Yousuf himself has a strained relationship with the format. He wasincensed at being dropped from Pakistan’s squad for the inaugural WorldTwenty20 in 2007 in South Africa. Having criticized the selectors for notpicking him, he aligned himself with the ICL, before being lured back intothe Pakistan fold by the board. But once he was overlooked for anothermulti-nation Twenty20 tournament in Toronto in August 2008, he signed upwith the ICL again, playing a few unsuccessful games for the Lahore Badshahs,before finally quitting and coming back to the Pakistan side earlier thisyear.Alongside Younis Khan, Yousuf has been Pakistan’s most reliable andsuccessful Test batsman during and after the Inzamam-ul-Haq era. And with Younis and Javed Miandad, he is the only Pakistan batsman with a 50-plusTest average. His worries are the pre-eminent factor behind his request forYounis on this tour, though authorities in Pakistan have yet to accede tothat.”You look at England, South Africa and Australia. They give Test cricketand ODIs the attention they deserve,” Yousuf said. “Until we do the same,we will not progress. They also play Twenty20 but they do it in acontrolled way. In our country we only want to play Twenty20 and no Tests.I think we have given up on Test cricket: either we look for the money orwe look to revive Pakistan cricket.”