Mohammad Yousuf opts out of upcoming 2012/13 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy to play domestic cricket in Bangladesh.

By Saj Sadiq (27th December 2012)

Veteran batsman Mohammad Yousuf has opted out of the upcoming 2012/13 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, the premier first-class tournament in Pakistan, in order to play domestic cricket in Bangladesh.

Yousuf was due to lead Lahore Shalimar and with the tournament due to commence tomorrow, the news will come as a blow to the side, which will now be captained by the highly-rated 22-year-old Usman Salahuddin.

Yousuf has had his battles in domestic cricket in recent times, including being refused permission to play in the President’s Trophy and failing to agree terms with Leicestershire in the 2012 County Championship after being refused time off during Ramadan. He also represented the Lahore Lions in the recently-concluded Faysal Bank T20 although only after a stand off between the Lahore management which resulted in his eventual replacement as captain by Mohammad Hafeez.

Yousuf, who continues to state his desire for a return to the national side, will hope runs in Bangladesh will bolster his case with the PCB selection committee for the challenging tour of South Africa due to commence in February 2013, although Iqbal Qasim and his co-selectors have always maintained that performance in Pakistani domestic cricket is the benchmark for international selection.

The move will also form part of the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s stated aim of improving the standard of the first-class structure in recent comments made by Nairmur Rahman, the BCB’s tournament committee chairman. 38-year-old Yousuf will bring a wealth of experience to their cricket, including 7,530 international runs at an average of 52.29. His last outing in 4-day cricket was for Warwickshire in May 2011.

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