Yousuf calls it a day

Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf has decided to retire from all forms of competitive cricket after being dropped from the list of centrally contracted players by the PCB. Sources close to the senior batsman said Yousuf has decided against taking part in any domestic or local cricket competitions as he was totally disheartened with the situation.
“After serving Pakistan cricket for so long, he is disheartened at the way the selectors and board have treated him. He is disappointed with the fact that no one in the board or any selector even bothered to talk to him and find out about his future plans and fitness,” the source said. Pakistan Cricket Board recently offered central contracts to 23 players for the second half of the year.
Several leading players including Yousuf, former captain Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and Danish Kaneria were overlooked by the PCB, meaning neither player will be able to represent the country for the next 12 months. Yousuf, who will turn 37 this month, scored 109, 68 and 72 in his last three innings for Warwickshire in the English county championship in May and also captained the Lahore team in the national super eight T20 championship in Faisalabad before Ramazan and did pretty well.
The veteran of 90 tests and 288 one-day internationals last played for Pakistan in 2010 in UAE against South Africa but had to return home midway due to fitness issues. “Yousuf feels that the national selectors have now given a clear message to senior players that they don’t want them in the team so he has decided it is better to say goodbye to all forms of cricket,” the source added.
Yousuf, one of Pakistan’s finest batsman, is presently involved in religious assignments and preaching tours and also has plenty of business interest with other partners. “Yousuf was so keen on making a comeback to the national side that before the Twenty20 event in Faisalabad, he spent one week in Karachi having regular net and training sessions to be prepared,” the source said.
The source also informed that some local teams had approached Yousuf with lucrative offers to play for them as a guest player in the ongoing Ramazan tournaments in Karachi but he declined citing religious obligations.