KARACHI: Pakistan’s world record holder batsman Mohammad Yousuf Saturday said he had decided to retire next week in protest over an indefinite ban imposed on him by country’s cricket board. The 35-year-old Yousuf, who holds the world record for most runs in a calendar year with 1,788 made in 2006, was banned by an inquiry committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) two weeks ago.

“Yes, I have decided to retire as Pakistan player and my decision is not an emotional one,” Yousuf told AFP. “It’s of no use playing after such an insult which is unacceptable and I will announce my decision on Monday.” Yousuf led Pakistan on their twin tours of New Zealand and Australia between November and February after regular captain Younus Khan withdrew over a lack of form.

Last week Yousuf vowed to appeal. “Yes, I may still appeal, but a final decision will be taken on Monday,” said Yousuf who was also deprived of his annual central contract by the PCB last week, putting further question marks over his career. Yousuf said his commitment in playing for the country had not been rewarded by the cricket authorities. “I am deeply hurt because I have always played with commitment for my country and fans know this, but not those people who run cricket, this is a big tragedy.” “My 12-year career is impeccable and I have never let down anyone.”

The Test series between Australia and Pakistan is over, and it was won by Younis Khan. Don’t believe me? Well, think about this: after the hugely impressive Umar Akmal and Mohammad Aamer, no one’s stature has made greater strides in the last two weeks. For a guy who was busy failing in two matches for Habib Bank, that’s a pretty impressive feat. Consider these facts:

1. After the heavy defeat in Melbourne, our board and selectors were requested by Mohammad Yousuf and the management in Australia to send Younis before Sydney. They did not, evidently on the basis of the fact that Misbahul Haq made 65 runs in the first innings and Faisal Iqbal made a lucky 48 in the second, so how could either of them be dropped for a guy that, you know, averages 50 in Test cricket? We’ll never know if Younis could have made a difference to that apocalyptic collapse on the fourth afternoon at Sydney, but we do know that both Misbah and Faisal are useless.

Faisal never looked like he would survive Mitchell Johnson’s spell, and Misbah’s combined record in the two second innings in the series thus far reads: 0 runs, 3 balls, 2 collapses abetted, and 170 million hearts broken. If either of these jokers had scratched 15 runs a piece, Umar Akmal could’ve carried us home. But they’re not good enough, and never were. It’s also instructive to note that the last two times Pakistan has chased successfully in a Test abroad featured Younis playing a major role: Kandy 2006 and Port Elizabeth 2007 (and yes, it really was that long ago). We sure could’ve used him in Sydney.

2. His replacement as captain put in such a shameful display on the fourth morning that it became immediately clear that we would lose. To be honest, I actually wasn’t that upset watching us throw our wickets away, because I basically expected it; the morning session told me everything I needed to know about our mental state. We wanted Australia to give in because we were too afraid of actually having to work to win the game.

There can be no other explanation for Yousuf putting everyone on the boundary against Michael Hussey, a guy who survived three chances the previous day and looked far from assured against Danish Kaneria. Seeing that field setting, I basically knew we’d collapse, because we’d try to do things too quickly – again, taking shortcuts and hoping for the best – rather than keep our heads. And sure enough, that’s what happened. I also know there’s no way on God’s green earth that Younis would have set those fields. No way.

Look, I know Younis has his problems. He’s a bit of a baby and he’s too thin-skinned. But while he tends to be emotionally unstable, his mental strength as a batsman is what sets him apart, especially in the second innings of Tests when teams are usually batting under pressure. Think about this: Younis has six second-innings hundreds (out of 16 overall) and his second-innings average is only three runs lower than his overall average. As a comparison, Yousuf only has four second-innings hundreds out of 24 overall, and his average drops off by eleven. Sachin Tendulkar has 11 second-innings hundreds out of 43 overall, and his average drops off by 12. Younis plays well when the pressure is really on – and we all know the pressure was on in Sydney.

I suppose it would be a little churlish of me to spend my entire word count on a guy who wasn’t even in the country when the game was being played. I also suppose congratulations are in order for Australia. But here’s the thing: they don’t need our congratulations. Our humiliation is enough for them to enjoy; they don’t need to hear “well played, guys, you did us again” to feel good about themselves. So I’m not going to say anything nice about them.

I will, however, say this: Sydney will impact the psyche of Pakistan’s cricket-following public like few other games I can remember. The two that come to mind are Bangalore 1996 and Hobart 1999, both of which had us in the ascendancy for long periods before we threw them both away by losing our heads. But in neither of those could we taste victory like we did here. It was so close you could almost touch it.

You won’t believe the number of emails, blog posts, Facebook updates, and forum comments I’ve read to the effect of “I’m not watching cricket again for a long, long time.” I don’t think it’s anger as much as hopelessness; we know that things will never change, that our selection committees and boards will always be steered by the bhai-bhai culture rather than on the basis of merit, that very few of our batsmen will ever learn to play the moving ball (and the few that do, like Younis and Fawad Alam, won’t play), that our fielding will always be atrocious with an average of three dropped catches per day, and that any success we do miraculously achieve – as we did under the Inzi/Woolmer/Shahrayar Khan reign – will be transient.

I know for a fact that I won’t be watching the third Test on crummy streams on the internet, getting five and a half hours of sleep, just to experience that feeling again. Thanks, but no thanks.

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For a cricket board that is crying hoarse that it is being bled to death financially, it is quite strange that they have gone for a 17-man team (if you don’t include Imran Nazir going specifically for a three-hour event at the end) to play five ODIs. He should go down as a bigger specialist in his field than the best heart surgeon out there is in his.

We have lined up 17 players for one Twenty20 match coming five days after the end of the ODI series, which means six players will be warming poolside for six days, for after the ODIs it’ll be quite clear who the playing eleven for the solitary bash will be.

The gap between the vision of Australia and Pakistan’s cricket selection is evidenced by the fact that the hosts have literally announced their playing elevens for the first and second ODIs. Normally, it is the prerogative of the host side to have the luxury to choose from the entire talent available right up to a couple of days before the match.

If he was in mind for the ODI series, Fawad Alam would have cost more or less the same if he had stayed back in the team hotel when equated to a return Business Class ticket. And considering Khurram Manzoor wasn’t, he should have been the one to return. Before the Sydney Test, it was not expected that Misbah and Faisal would both fail to warrant Khurram’s inclusion also. Malik would have been the preferred choice anyway if one was being expected to fail, so why hold back Khurram? He did nothing exceptional in New Zealand to be saved up for the fallback role and, as expected, could not cope with the bounce being alien to such all his playing life.

Fawad had got 170 as an opener on his Test debut a few weeks ago and would have stepped into the No.3 position if required.

Sami was sent to lead the seam attack, otherwise why else would he be there? Yet he didn’t play in the first and even the third after taking three top wickets on opening day at Sydney. Richie Benaud summed up the ridiculous omission by asking if he was unfit. For probably the most astute reader of the game alive today, it was unthinkable that Sami wasn’t playing in seaming conditions and on a lively pitch.

Now he’s not in the ODI side. So why wasn’t he sent home on the morning of the third Test match if he was not in the plans for the ODI series?

At the end of my column in Dawn last week, I had suggested that Pakistan play with all four fast bowlers and ask Aamer to bat at No.6 instead of Misbah. If Malik was to be played at all it should have been at No.3 whether he likes it or not. I said this not just because of the maturity and technique that Aamer has shown, but also because in New Zealand he ended up with a batting average higher than Misbah and Malik, and three times the average of Khurram!

Younis Khan has been a far valuable Test batsman and in the past two years has struggled to have a desirable strike rate in the shorter game of any length. But he was held back from the last two Tests when the Pakistani batsmen had just not shown the potential for a big innings in either one of them. The reason was that he had to play himself back into form. Following 29 runs in four lackluster single figure innings against second eleven bowlers on the local scene, he is now suddenly cleared to face the Australian attack on home ground against which Yousuf has a current average of 31 from five innings (down to 23 if that one knock of 61 is taken out).

Rao Iftikhar should go into the Guinness Book of World Records as the most frequent bench warmer on tours. I think he’s sat out something like 20 ODIs in the last 18 months, despite being in the team. Yet if played, he should prove a vital cog. Would you believe that in ODIs he has the best economy rate among all fast bowlers in the squad except for Asif, over which he nevertheless enjoys a better strike rate?

There will be other accidental tourists and Pakistan could well have worked with a squad of 15. Considering Yousuf, Younis, Afridi, Farhat, Butt and Umar Akmal will play no matter what happens in the first two ODIs, we are carrying Khalid Latif, Fawad Alam and Shoaib Malik for the other three. They will only come in (and not all at the same time) if these six batsmen don’t do well in which case we would likely be 2-0 down and unlikely to win the rubber. So what’s the purpose of having them play the last one or two games? Having said that, I don’t see Butt and Farhat being separated after ODI-style starts in the Tests. So it’s improbable these other three will get a foot into the field, especially if Kamran is available in both capacities.

Lastly, I wonder how Yousuf will cope with more imaginative captaincy and tactics at a far faster rate than in Tests. And shouldn’t Intikhab morally stand down as coach in the Twenty20 match on Feb 5 considering he feels that is the bane of all Pakistan’s batsmen?

National Assembly’s standing committee for sports has called the chairman and the chief operation officer of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), coach and manager of the national cricket team for disappointing performance of Pakistan against Australia.

The committee has also imposed fine of Rs100,000 on hockey player Rehan Butt while the coach and the manager of the team have been fined for Rs50,000 each for the objectionable pictures’ publication in media.

The committee members at a meeting, presided over by its chairman Jamshed Dasti, expressed severe anger over the publication of the national hockey team players’ objectionable pictures.

Jamshed Dasti has directed to impose fine of Rs100,000 on Rehan Butt and Rs50,000 each on the coach and the manager.

The committee through a unanimous resolution has recommended to sack chairman PCB Ijaz Butt.

The members of the committee said that Butt is not capable of running the cricket board and he should immediately be removed.

Secretary Establishment Division Ismail Qureshi told the committee that the Punjab government has been asked to explain regarding making any operation against high-level police officers for their negligence in security of the Sri Lankan cricket team.

After the Punjab government sends the case against the concerned police officers then the operation will be made after getting an approval from the prime minister.