Yousuf blames Twenty20 for Sydney debacle

Karachi:

Continuing his tirade against Twenty20, embattled Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf on Thursday blamed the proliferation of this format for his team's bizarre defeat in the Sydney Test against Australia.

Chasing 176 for a win, Pakistan imploded in their second innings for just 139 and Yousuf had no doubt that some of the players are interested only in Twenty20 and lacked the Test match temperament.

"We had a golden chance to finally beat Australia in Australia and we let it go ourselves due to poor batting. I think the target of 176 runs was perfectly gettable on the Sydney pitch on the fourth day of the Test," Yousuf told a television channel.

"I get a feeling that most of the players are more interested in playing Twenty20 cricket. There is no doubt that Twenty20 cricket is affecting the ability of batsmen to play long innings in Test matches and it is something we need to look at in Pakistan," he said.

Even before the Test match, Yousuf had warned that Twenty20 would ruin Pakistan cricket since batsmen are getting fast money playing in lucrative tournaments and did not bother to play Test cricket.

Incidentally, it was Yousuf's defensive tactics that let Australia off the hook in the second Test, prompting former players to demand sacking of the captain.

Yousuf, meanwhile, felt the team badly needed a batting coach.

"When the team can have a bowling and fielding coach, why not a batting coach? A batting coach can definitely help the players focus on their job and guide them in working out minor faults in their technique," he said.

The Pakistan captain said there was a pall of gloom in the dressing room after then defeat but he had avoided scolding the players.

"If you do something like that after such a bad defeat, you only further dampen the spirit and morale of the team," he said.

Yousuf has also come in for criticism for supporting wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal who dropped four catches, missed a run out and struggled for runs in the Sydney Test.

Yousuf had said that he could not drop Kamran as there was no ready replacement for him in the team neither was there a reserve keeper on the tour.

Incidentally, the selectors announced today that they are sending keeper Sarfaraz Ahmed to Australia to play the third Test in Hobart.