"Too much emphasis on Twenty20 has triggered a decline in Pakistan cricket and the format threatens to finish the game altogether in the country," fears captain Mohammad Yousuf. Yousuf feels ever since introduction of slam-bang format, in which Pakistan are reigning World champions, batsmen seem to have forgotten the virtue of patience in longer formats of the game.
"It (batting failures) used to happen before, but now because of Twenty20 cricket no player knows how to stay at the wicket anymore. 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," he said. His criticism of Twenty20 format comes in wake of Pakistan's 170-run defeat to Australia in first Test at Melbourne on Wednesday.
The veteran batsman said current crop of Pakistani batsmen are finding it tough to bat through even 50 overs, let alone coping with rigours Test cricket. "Both in Tests and ODIs we have problems. We struggle to bat fifty overs. Against New Zealand (in Abu Dhabi) we couldn't make 212 in 50 overs. Everyone played wayward shots and got out."
He said since T20 is all about hitting the ball outside the park, batsmen are no longer working on developing techniques. "Twenty 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? 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," he added.
Yousuf said Pakistan should learn how to respect Test and ODI cricket. "You look at England, South Africa and Australia. They give Test cricket and ODIs the attention they deserve. "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 money or we look to revive Pakistan cricket," he added.
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