Lahore, May 27: Captain Shahid Afridi has been making all-out efforts to convince veteran batsman Mohammad Yousuf to come out of retirement and be a part of Pakistan’s tour of England next month.
Pakistan will tour England where they will also meet Australia and the hosts in back-to-back series.
Afridi said he was confident that Yousuf was good enough batsman to make a successful return to international arena despite a long lay-off.
”I’ve talked to Yousuf and I’ve also talked to a few elders, who can influence him to come out of retirement for the sake of Pakistan,” said Afridi. ”I’m sure that he would listen to them and change his mind about retiring from international cricket,” Afridi told ‘The News’.
The key ‘elder’ who can influence Yousuf is Haji Abdul Wahab with whom, Yousuf meets regularly during his trips to Raiwind and on preaching missions since converting to Islam a few years back. Abdul Wahab and a few of his close associates have become Yousuf’s advisors and reportedly the former captain does not take important decisions without seeking their advice.
Afridi, meanwhile, said he has discussed the issue with some of the elders and is confident that Yousuf will come out with a ”positive decision soon”.
The 35-year-old Yousuf announced his retirement earlier this year in protest against an indefinite ban imposed on him by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). He captained Pakistan during the catastrophic tour of Australia in which the tourists lost all their matches.
Yousuf is one of Pakistan’s most successful batsmen with 7431 runs from 88 Tests at a healthy average of 53.07. He has also piled up 9624 runs from 282 ODIs. ”We will certainly need his services in England,” the all-rounder noted.
”Yousuf is a great batsman and Im sure that even if he just plays in a couple of warm-up matches before the Test series, he will be ready for the tough assignment. He won’t need much time to get ready for the tour.” Earlier yesterday, Yousuf had said that he would revoke his retirement decision only if his ‘elders’ give him the permission to do this. ”If fate allows I will play for Pakistan again but only if my elders give me permission.
”Yes, Afridi called me up and we spoke at length about the cricket scenario. I told him I took the decision to retire after seeking advice from my elders and I can only take back the retirement decision if my elders give me permission to do this,” Yousuf said.
——–Agencies