Mohammad Yousuf has issued a stark warning of the
impending 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 "finish
Pakistan's cricket."
Yousuf's counsel comes in the wake of Pakistan's defeat to
Australia in the first Test in Melbourne, where their batsmen struggled on a placid pitch in
a
170-run loss. Australia declared twice in the Test, but Pakistan were
bowled out for 258 and 251 - the second after being 170-3. But his words
come in a broader context: those totals continued a long run of sub-par
performances 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 been
caught in a number of Test collapses through the year in Sri Lanka, New Zealand and now Australia. As in Melbourne, a number of batsmen have
settled in, before getting themselves out. The failure, Yousuf believes, comes from Twenty20 cricket.
"It [batting failures] used to happen before but now because of Twenty20
cricket no player knows how to stay at the wicket anymore," Yousuf told
Cricinfo. "Batsmen are finding it very difficult. I know the format has
money, players get it and boards do but if Pakistan hypes up Twenty20 too
much, Test and ODI cricket will really go down."
Pakistan are the reigning world champions in the format, having won the
World Twenty20 in a stirring display in June in England. They reached the
final of the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007 and have the
best win-loss
ratio of all nations in the format. In Umar Gul, Saeed
Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq they have, arguably, the format's
sharpest game-changers.
They were also one of the first countries to adopt the format
domestically, holding wildly successful events in Lahore and Karachi in
2005 and 2006, and the first three years of the tournament attracted what
many believed to be the largest domestic crowds ever in Pakistan.
Additionally, a number of their players had successful first seasons with
the 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 Sohail
Tanvir have all played, or are playing Twenty20 cricket, for Australian
state sides as well.
Most Pakistanis are brought up on a diet of 20-over cricket at club and
street level. That, Yousuf believes, has left much of the current crop
unsuited to the longer, unique demands of Test cricket and even ODI
cricket. "Both in Tests and ODIs we have problems," Yousuf said. "We
struggle to bat 50 overs. Against New Zealand [in Abu Dhabi] we couldn't
make 212 in 50 overs. Everyone played shots and got out.
"Twenty20 is easy for Pakistanis because they know how to hit, nobody
knows how to defend. Until players do not play with discipline and play
ball to ball and leave balls they are supposed to we will struggle in
ODIs, let alone Tests. If you see a ball, hit it because you have to
score. But if you are going to slog all the time what is the point? I
could have hit jumping out but unless you get a ball to hit what is the
point? 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 as
possible.
"One domestic tournament is enough and a World Cup apart from that, but my
belief is that you have to reduce Twenty20 heavily. They shouldn't play it
in club cricket - even there you play 20 overs, not 40-over matches. I
only have 2-3 years left in my career but I worry Twenty20 will finish
Pakistan's cricket."
Alongside Younis Khan, Yousuf has been Pakistan's most reliable and
successful 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-plus
Test average. His worries are the pre-eminent factor behind his request for
Younis on this tour, though authorities in Pakistan have yet to accede to
that.
"You look at England, South Africa and Australia. They give Test cricket
and 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 a
controlled 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 or
we look to revive Pakistan cricket."