Pakistan’s capricious batsman Mohammad Yousuf is now hoping for a comeback into the national team as he has made himself available to play for the Lahore Lions in the National Twenty20 Championship to be held in Karachi from Sunday. President of the Lahore City Cricket Association, Khawaja Nadeem, confirmed that Yousuf would lead the Lahore Lions team in place of allrounder Abdul Razzaq. “Yousuf has been appointed captain and he has confirmed his availability.
Razzaq is busy with the Champions League T20 matches in India so he might not play in the national T20 event. That is why we have decided to change the captain,” Nadeem said. Yousuf has not been considered for the national team since last year and was also dropped from the central contracts list, which was announced last month to 19 players for the remaining year. Yousuf insists he still has some years of cricket left in him and wants to play for Pakistan, but the national selectors following a policy of blooding youngsters have largely ignored him. Yousuf last played for Pakistan against South Africa in the UAE in November 2010 and then had to return home with a fitness issue.
Yousuf, who turned 37 last month, has appeared in 90 Tests and 288 One-day Internationals but his T20 career for Pakistan has been limited to just three matches. All the top players of the country are taking part in the national T20 event with Misbah-ul-Haq set to lead the Faisalabad team, Shahid Afridi and Danish Kaneria the Karachi sides and Younis Khan the Abbotabad outfit. Lahore teams will be led by Kamran Akmal and Yousuf.
There should be some rule on retirements and returns. A player should not be allowed to take back his retirement unless he has been requested by the PCB
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