Mohammad Yousuf speaks exclusively to PakPassion.net about his career, some of the great opponents he has come up against, his ambition to return to the Pakistan team, his thoughts on the upcoming batsmen in Pakistan and much more.

By Saj Sadiq (June 4th 2012)

PakPassion.net: Many thanks in doing this interview with PakPassion.

Mohammad Yousuf: No problems, any time.

PakPassion.net: Why are you in England at the moment and what are your plans during this visit?

Mohammad Yousuf: I’m in England at the moment on some private business and the guys at Lashings asked me if I wanted to play a few games for them. I thought it was a good opportunity to play some cricket, maintain my fitness level and keep in touch with the game that I still love. In between the matches for Lashings, I’m continuing to do my gym work and maintaining my daily training routines. I expect to be in the United Kingdom for a month or so.

PakPassion.net: Any plans to play county cricket whilst in the UK?

Mohammad Yousuf: I’m available until the start of Ramadan and if a good offer comes my way then I will definitely consider it.

PakPassion.net: You’ve played cricket all over the world for many years. Are there any grounds or countries that you particularly enjoy playing cricket in?

Mohammad Yousuf: I regard my home ground, the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, as my favourite. It holds special memories for me and I’ve enjoyed some great moments at this ground. My other most favourite ground is Lords. It’s the home of cricket, steeped in tradition and you always get a unique feeling when you step onto the outfield. Lords is a brilliant ground and the atmosphere is unique.

I’ve always enjoyed playing Test cricket in England as the atmospheres at all of the grounds are excellent and fans turn up in huge numbers. As a cricketer you always enjoy playing in front of full stadia.

As far as touring is concerned, Australia and New Zealand are two countries that I have found fascinating to visit.

PakPassion.net: You didn't play domestic cricket in Pakistan last season. Do you have regret this, and any plans to play domestic cricket next season?

Mohammad Yousuf: This time around I will be playing domestic cricket. My plans are to feature in all of the tournaments in Pakistan, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, the National One Day Cup and any Twenty20 tournaments that are organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Playing in the aforementioned competitions is going to be essential to my desire to return to the Pakistan team and playing in these tournaments is in my plans.

PakPassion.net: Some would say that at the age of 37, your time is up in international cricket. Mentally and physically do you feel you are still fit and ready to play international cricket again?

Mohammad Yousuf: Physically I’m in good shape and mentally I’m in great shape. I’m ready, able and willing to play for Pakistan any time the selectors want to call on me. My desire to play for Pakistan has not diminished and recently in Lahore, before I came to the United Kingdom, I gave a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy which I passed with flying colours. I’m confident that if I am given another opportunity by the selectors I would not let them down.

PakPassion.net: You’ve had a lot of highs and lows throughout your career. Do you feel you still have the desire to play for Pakistan?

Mohammad Yousuf: My heart is set on a return to international cricket. I know that despite my record and all of my previous runs in international cricket and performances, I need to impress the selectors once again. It is like starting all over again for me and I know that people will question whether I can still perform at the highest level at the age of 37, but I am confident that I still have a lot to offer Pakistani cricket.

PakPassion.net: Was there much interaction between you, the coaches and the other players at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore when the fitness tests and training sessions were taking place recently?

Mohammad Yousuf: All of the coaches and players were there. We met every day and spoke briefly a few times. In that environment you are there to carry on with your work and training and we were all very focussed on that.

PakPassion.net: Over the years you have played against some world class individuals and teams. Who do you regard as the toughest opposition you have come up against?

Mohammad Yousuf: Australia undoubtedly. Over the years whenever I have played against them in every format they do not give you an inch, they are never beaten and they have always been a very difficult team to play against.

However the current Australian team is weak in bowling strength which is to be expected as it’s impossible to replace great bowlers like Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath overnight. The current Australian bowlers are nowhere near the calibre of Warne and McGrath and that is hurting their team in all formats at the moment.

PakPassion.net: You’ve had some great encounters against the Indian cricket team over the years. How would you describe playing against the arch rivals?

Mohammad Yousuf: India are of course our traditional rivals and it’s always been a unique feeling playing against them. It’s been interesting and exceptional playing against India but it is Australia, who have been our toughest opposition over time.

PakPassion.net: How would you rate the Indian teams you have played against?

Mohammad Yousuf: India’s strength has always been their batting line up. They have always had a strong batting unit, a unit that provides them with the cushion of runs, but I have never rated their bowling attacks. India has struggled over the years to produce great bowlers. In all these years I don’t think they have produced what I would term a world class bowler. 

PakPassion.net: The Pakistan team is currently in Sri Lanka facing some tough conditions due to the heat and humidity. What’s tougher for a cricketer touring overseas to adapt to, the weather and climate or the wicket or surface?

Mohammad Yousuf: I think it all depends on how physically fit you are and how mentally ready you are. I’ve always felt that as a cricketer if you are feeling 100% fit and are mentally in good shape and at ease, then the overhead conditions, the surface, the weather or anything else does not matter - irrespective of the opposition and the location.

PakPassion.net: Moving onto the difficult tour of Australia in 2010 when you were captain. Looking back at the Sydney Test match that Pakistan surprisingly lost, what are your feelings about it?

Mohammad Yousuf: To take Australia to that level and to almost defeat them in Sydney was a remarkable achievement in itself. They were staring at an innings defeat which was an achievement itself. Winning and losing is part of the game of cricket and the fans and media should have appreciated the fact that for the first time ever a Pakistan cricket team were close to inflicting an innings defeat to Australia, in Australia.

PakPassion.net: But ultimately you lost the Sydney Test match when defeat seemed almost impossible?

Mohammad Yousuf: Our team was very weak in Australia. Our bowling line up was very good, a balanced attack, but our batting unit was very inexperienced. I was the only experienced batsman in our team, the rest of the batsmen were inexperienced and young. 

Even though we lost the Sydney Test match, I feel that we performed very well. The fans and the media need to take everything into account and realise that a young team performed very well in that Test match and not just look at the final result. 

Our intentions were to win the Sydney Test match but we lost - it’s part of the game.

PakPassion.net: During the Sydney Test match there were some incredible fielding lapses. Were you disappointed with the glaring errors and lapses?

Mohammad Yousuf: You have good and bad days in the field. Nobody intentionally made mistakes during the Sydney Test match, it’s part of cricket. Look at the 1999 World Cup match between Australia and South Africa where Herschelle Gibbs dropped such a simple catch and South Africa went onto lose that match. That incident is just one example of a fielding lapse.

PakPassion.net: The reaction to the Sydney defeat from the media and fans was very strong. Do you think that the reaction was justified?

Mohammad Yousuf: That is the way it goes with the public and the media, sometimes they back you, other times they don’t. They were entitled to their opinions about that match in Sydney and the tour of Australia. 

PakPassion.net: You were replaced as captain after that tour of Australia - were you disappointed or hurt by that snub?

Mohammad Yousuf: The Pakistan captaincy is not something that I have craved over the years. I didn’t know when I was going to be captain and when I was not going to be captain, it’s all in the Almighty’s hands. It’s not something that I have been desperate for or indeed aimed to do, I have just preferred to look to perform to the best of my ability over the years.

PakPassion.net: Moving onto playing against the great bowlers from the Caribbean. What was it like to face the hostility and pace of some of the great West Indian bowlers?

Mohammad Yousuf: I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of facing the West Indian quick bowlers either in the Caribbean or at home. My record against the West Indians is good (seven Test centuries in eight matches). Obviously when I played against them at the start of my career they were a fearsome set of bowlers, but as a batsman I feel that facing such quality opposition spurs you on and drives you to achieve better results. It was a tough challenge against the West Indian bowlers, but happy to say that is was one that I usually came out on top.

Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose were particularly tough to face, even though I only faced them towards the end of their careers. They were fierce competitors and you knew you had been in a match when you had batted against them.

PakPassion.net: Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, two great spinners that you have faced on a number of occasions. Who do you rate as the better bowler?

Mohammad Yousuf: There is no comparison between the two. Warne was on a different level, he had so much variety. The only spinner who I would place even remotely close to Warne’s level is Saqlain Mushtaq. 

Records and statistics aside, from my experience of facing Warne, Murali and Saqlain, I rate Warne as the best followed by Saqlain, who gave the world the Doosra, which is a remarkable delivery. 

PakPassion.net: You played a lot of cricket over the years with Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. How would you compare the two great bowlers and can Pakistan produce bowling talent of that calibre in future?

Mohammad Yousuf: To produce bowlers of the calibre of Wasim and Waqar is virtually impossible. Pakistan cricket was blessed to have them both bowling in tandem, usually bowlers of that calibre are a one-off and we were very lucky to have two such great bowlers in the same team.

Wasim was unique, a once in a lifetime bowler who had the ability to change any match even if the opposition was close to victory. It’s difficult to predict what’s going to happen in the future but I would be surprised if Pakistan produces talents as good as Wasim and Waqar in future. 

PakPassion.net: You have played some of your cricket with Shoaib Akhtar. What was he like to play alongside and what advice did you offer him?

Mohammad Yousuf: (smiles) I kept my advice to myself when it came to Shoaib. He had a seniority level of his own. What a fantastic bowler he was when he was on song and fit. He was always vibrant in the field, full of advice and energy too.

It’s unfortunate that he could not play a lot of cricket for Pakistan as he could have been one of the all-time greats. He should really have played over 300 ODIs and over 100 Test matches for Pakistan.

PakPassion.net: We are seeing Twenty20 cricket becoming more and more popular all over the world. Do you think this format is having an adverse effect on the techniques of batsmen?

Mohammad Yousuf: Proper and genuine batsmen will have no problems at all adjusting their technique to all three formats. Those types of batsmen will not have any problems tweaking their techniques to be effective in every format. The problems are there however for those players that I deem as head in the clouds and hope for the best type batsmen who struggle to adjust to Test cricket. They struggle to get away with their frail techniques in one day cricket and they get found out in Test cricket.

Even in one day cricket, the aforementioned type of cricketers struggle to build innings. Sometimes in 50 over matches you have to build an innings, you have to be patient and rotate the strike which they find difficult to do. Most of the time these T20 specialists struggle to score runs even in one day internationals, occasionally they will score a few runs with a bit of luck.

It’s much easier for proper batsmen who can be effective in Test cricket to also produce good results in the shorter formats, but virtually impossible for these so called T20 specialists to be effective in the 50 over and five-day formats.

PakPassion.net: The rules are continually being tweaked in one day cricket, to ensure that it remains popular. What are your thoughts one the 50 over format and the rule changes we have seen in recent times?

Mohammad Yousuf: Even as a batsman I’m pleased that the rules regarding 2 cricket balls being used in one day internationals has been implemented. There should be some help for the bowlers as modern day cricket is becoming too much in favour of the batsman.

In the One Day and the twenty-over formats I would like to see two bouncers per over being permitted. Let’s see more equality between the ball and the bat instead of ball after ball sailing into the stands. The better batsmen around the world will be able to still perform well with these rule changes, but there has to be more of an even contest between the bat and the ball. 

In Test cricket I would go as far as allowing a bowler to be permitted to bowl three bouncers per over. Let’s test the quality of the batsmen, instead of them just being allowed to plant their front foot down the crease and play each ball with ease. 

PakPassion.net: Moving onto DRS. A good initiative or not?

Mohammad Yousuf: I firmly believe that utilising technology in cricket is wonderful. It’s important that the glaring mistakes by umpires are removed from the game, the decisions that leave a bad taste in the mouth of either team. Wicketkeepers need to have an added string to their bow as the captains rely heavily on them on whether to refer a decision or not. You need a wicketkeeper who is not excitable and wanting to review every decision, the wicket-keeper needs to be level headed and calm as the captain will more often than not rely upon his judgement.

PakPassion.net: What are your opinions on Asad Shafiq and has he got the technique and temperament to become an established member of the Pakistan team in years to come?

Mohammad Yousuf: When he first came into the Pakistan team in 2010 in England for the one day internationals, I was also in the team. I watched him closely then and he impressed me greatly. Technically he looks very good, he has the right temperament and I think he has the skills to represent Pakistan in all three formats for many years to come.

PakPassion.net: Umar Akmal has been dropped from the Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka, what are your thoughts on Umar Akmal as a batsman?

Mohammad Yousuf: There is only one person who can get Umar Akmal into the Test team and that is Umar himself. It’s all down to him. He has to realise that Test cricket is the most difficult format of cricket. Test cricket is the real deal, whilst one day cricket and T20 cricket is just there to make money. Some batsmen can look very good in the 20 and 50 over formats, yet when you put them in white clothing and ask them to perform in Test cricket, they freeze and their weaknesses are shown up. 

Umar needs to look at where things are going wrong in Test cricket and to prove to the selectors that he has the technique and the mental strength to play Test cricket. It’s all down to him, coaches and team mates can only help him so much, once you are out there in the middle it’s a lonely place especially if you are not performing well. I would urge him to prove to himself and everyone else that he is good enough for Test cricket.

PakPassion.net: Your thoughts on Pakistan’s middle order in future once Misbah ul Haq and Younis Khan retire?

Mohammad Yousuf: Both Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq look accomplished batsmen to me. They both played well against England recently in the UAE and I think both of them can be the backbone of the Pakistan team in future. They have both shown the right temperament and they have scored runs when the team was struggling, which is important.
 

PakPassion.net: Mohammad Hafeez was recently appointed as the T20 captain. What are your thoughts on his appointment and do you see Hafeez as Misbah’s readymade replacement as captain in other formats?

Mohammad Yousuf: I’d like to firstly take this opportunity to congratulate Hafeez on his appointment as captain of the T20 team. I’ve played quite a lot of cricket with Hafeez and he once made a century batting alongside me. Hafeez is a good cricketer, he’s a fighting cricketer who has improved greatly over the last couple of years. It’s a very good decision to make him the T20 captain. 

PakPassion.net: Have you had a chance to meet with either the selectors or the new PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf to discuss your future?

Mohammad Yousuf: No I haven’t had a chance to meet the Chairman yet. My thinking is that rather than speaking with selectors, it’s best to play some domestic cricket and let my performances do the talking.

PakPassion.net: Any message for everyone who will be reading this interview?

Mohammad Yousuf: My message to everybody is that the Pakistani cricketers are doing their best on the field. Always support them, get behind them. We all want success for the Pakistan cricket team, whether that is the fans, media or the players, so we should all pull in the same direction.

None of the players want to perform badly. Winning and losing is part of professional sport, you have good and bad days, but support the team and the nation at all costs. Wherever you are in the world, support the Pakistan cricket team, respect the players, they are trying their best for themselves, for you and for the nation. 

The Indian and English fans, their cricket Boards, the politicians and media respect their players so much, Pakistanis should do the same. There is a difference between being passionate and being disrespectful and I would urge Pakistanis all over the world to respect your cricket team and your country, support your team at the stadia all over the world and not to abuse them. That way if you support the players they will grow in confidence and the results will be even better.

PakPassion.net: Many thanks for your time today.

Mohammad Yousuf: You’re welcome.

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