Yousuf slams PCB

Pakistan batsman hits out at PCB after ICL ban

Last updated: 17th November 2008

Yousuf slams PCB

Yousuf: PCB blast

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Suspended batsman Mohammad Yousuf has hit out at the Pakistan Cricket Board for their stance on banning players involved in the rebel Indian Cricket League.

The PCB have banned a host of big-name players from playing domestically, and for the national side, due to their involvement in the ICL.

Yousuf is one of those players, and despite being a star of the Test team he can not now play for Pakistan after he opted to join the non-sanctioned twenty20 tournament in India.

The veteran of 79 Tests and 269 on-day internationals has accused the PCB of double standards, and says they are jeopardising the game.

"Why are they ruining the future of Pakistan cricket?" Yousuf said.

Money

"There are players in the ICL like Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir and Mohammad Sami, who can still play for Pakistan.

"What I fail to understand is that the PCB is not worried about the future of Pakistan cricket and its players, it is only worried about the money."

Yousuf is also in dispute with the PCB over money, as the board want him to return the funds they spent on his court case over his contract with ICL side Lahore Badshahs.

"The previous (cricket) board misguided me by saying that I could not play for Pakistan if I joined ICL," Yousuf added.

"The previous board also told me that it would look after all the court cases."

The likes of Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved, Taufiq Umar and Hasan Raza have all been banned by the PCB for joining the rebel league.

Captain

Yousuf has also criticised the attitude and captaincy style of Shoaib Malik, saying he did not give the senior players enough respect.

"I have nothing personal against him, but in the Pakistan team the senior players are not given due respect," he said.

"I was never consulted in any cricketing matter while on the other hand look at Dhoni, how well he takes along all the senior and junior players."

A clearly unhappy Yousuf is still determined to continue his career in all three formats of the game, saying he can do well at Test, ODI and Twenty20 level.

"I am among the top in both test and one-day cricket rankings so how can someone say I am not fit for twenty20 cricket," Yousuf said.

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