Pakistan and Sussex all rounder Yasir Arafat had mixed emotions after Sussex's quarter final defeat at the hands of Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

 by Saj Sadiq

28 July 2010

Pakistan and Sussex all rounder Yasir Arafat had mixed emotions after Sussex's quarter final defeat at the hands of Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

Arafat was delighted at becoming the second highest Twenty20 wicket taker after picking up four wickets for thirty four runs, but he was still smarting at the defeat against David Hussey's team when he spoke to PakPassion.net. 

Arafat is now only behind Dirk Nannes and just the third bowler to hit the century mark in the Twenty over format of the game.

"It was great to reach the 100 wicket mark and I'm very proud to be the first Pakistani cricketer to reach that milestone. However like my Sussex team mates, I was very disappointed to lose out at Trent Bridge. I thought at the halfway stage that we could have chased down Nottinghamshire's score of 141, but sadly we fell 13 runs short."

Arafat who has represented Pakistan on 21 occasions, including 7 appearances in Twenty over cricket, admitted though that he is his own biggest critic and always sets his standards very high.

"I wanted to reach the 100 wicket milestone sooner, but unfortunately I haven't taken many wickets in the last few t20 matches for Sussex. I've also missed a few Twenty20 matches this season for Sussex due to the overseas player rotation policy that has meant that Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum were selected and I was rested."

Arafat has not represented Pakistan in a competitive fixture since May 2009, although he played in the warm up matches prior to last year's Twenty20 World Cup. Rawalpindi born Arafat though, has his sights firmly set on a comeback to the Pakistan squad.

"I've been unlucky with injuries missing out on both Twenty20 World Cup competitions and I am really keen on a return to playing for my country. There is simply no better feeling than performing well for your country and helping them to victories. I met up with the Pakistan squad at Nottingham as we were staying at the same hotel and it was great to share a few jokes and talk to the boys on the back of their excellent victory over Australia."

Arafat feels that his form this season has been good and he hopes that he can catch the eye of Mohsin Khan and his selectors.

"I'm relatively happy with my form this season and in the last 4 day match I took 4 wickets and scored a half century against Gloucestershire. My aim is to continue to perform well for Sussex and hope that the selectors give me another chance to play for Pakistan."

Pakistan have decided against calling up any additions to the squad for the first test against England that commences on Thursday, however Arafat will definitely be in the reckoning for the 2 Twenty20 matches and 5 one day internationals against England that commence in September.