LAHORE: Pakistan’s prolific middle order batsman Mohammad Yousuf has signed a contract with Mohammedan Sporting Club to play in Bangladesh’s Premier Division Cricket League. The club will be defending its title and is now looking towards Yousuf for help after their overseas player from Sri Lanka Farveez Mahroof returned home after sustaining injured.
The 36-year old right-hander has so far played 90 Tests and 288 ODIs for Pakistan and he would be part of the playing XI in their clash against Surjo Torun Club at the BKSP.
After signing the contract, Yousuf said he was not ready to give any opinion on any controversy. “I will talk only about the competition (Premier League Cricket) nothing else,” said Yousuf adding that he was looking forward to making his debut in Bangladesh’s domestic competition. Yousuf, however, has no idea about the standard of the Premier Division Cricket although some Pakistani players including Wasim Akram have played in this competition over the last three decades.
“I have no idea about the competition but you know cricket is cricket. I can understand the standard and nature of the competition after playing first one or two games. I want to play all the matches if I am not selected for the national duty. As a professional cricketer it would not be hard to motivate myself in this competition,” said Yousuf.
“I know playing for Mohammedan and Abahani carries a lot of pressure. But you have to survive in pressure at any kind of cricket. And I know how to handle it,” said Yousuf. The experienced Pakistan batsman also heaped praise on the Bangladesh cricket team.
“Recently Bangladesh have been playing good cricket and I saw their performance in the last couple of series. There are players like Shakib (Al Hasan), Tamim (Iqbal), Mashrafe (Bin Mortaza), Mushfiqur (Rahim) and Mohammad Ashraful. There is something in the team and that’s why they won the matches. So they have a good chance in the World Cup. Bangladesh also played good cricket in the last World Cup as they beat South Africa and India,” Yousuf observed.
