Yousuf must play in domestic cricket before contemplating national team comeback

Islamabad: Pakistan’s chief selector Iqbal Qasim has said veteran batsman Mohammad Yousuf has to play domestic matches to be considered for national selection.

Yousuf took a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy on Tuesday in attempt to revive his international career. “Yousuf has appeared in the fitness tests and that is good. It is a good sign that he is practicing again, but our criteria is clear. Players, even if they are seniors, must appear in domestic cricket matches to be considered for selection,” The Daily Times quoted Qasim, as saying. Qasim insisted that the criteria for selecting players remained their form and fitness in domestic cricket. “We have to see how much domestic cricket he has played,” Qasim said. Yousuf didn’t play in the last domestic season, although he appeared in the National T20 Super Eights event held in Faisalabad last year in July-August. Yousuf, whose international career came to a halt in November 2010, took fitness test along with seven other players including Umar Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Aizaz Cheema, Kamran Akmal. ANI