World XI tour to pave way for international cricket, Yousaf

LAHORE, Aug 31 (APP)- Former Pakistan Cricket captain,
Muhammad Yousaf said on Thursday that the tour of ICC World
XI will pave the way of international cricket to Pakistan.
“It is beginning of resumption of international cricket
in Pakistan and it is going to be a very important cricket
activity after a long gap of almost nine years”,he told
APP here.
Former reliable and stylish batsman said people of
Pakistan have waited long for the resumption of cricket,
specially the youth whose number one favourite game across
the country is cricket.
“The wait is finally over and we will be seeing a high
profile cricket activity taking place in Lahore as the ICC
World XI is a blend of finest players chosen from seven
cricket playing countries”, he added.
Yousaf acknowledged the hard work and continuous efforts
of the Pakistan Cricket Board for making strenuous efforts
for bringing back international cricket to Pakistan.
“PCB stood firm on its stance of having cricket in Pakistan
and it pleaded country’s case at all the international forums
in a very professional manner and the international cricket
council also supported its stance and finally decided to send
its World XI to Pakistan”,he said.
The former Pakistan captain was of the view that return
of the international cricket will serve the cause of cricket
in Pakistan, especially at the youth level as the young
generation will be getting big inspiration by seeing the world
class players in action at their own ground.
“When I was young ,I learnt a lot of cricket by watching
foreign players playing in Pakistan on different occasions and
it was a big way of learning which eventually helped me to become
a quality cricketer”,he quoted his own example in this regard.
Yousaf said the newly elected Chairman of the PCB , Najam
Sathi deserves praise for ensuring the return of international
cricket to Pakistan.
“He (Sathi) launched Pakistan Super League and made it a
success, then its final was successfully organised in Lahore
and all these efforts served as trust building measures which
helped in convincing the ICC and other cricket playing countries
to send their teams to Pakistan”, said the former batsman.
To a question, he said, he was ready to serve Pakistan
cricket in any role and he has special passion to work at grass
root level for the betterment of game.
“Even my services are also available for the PSL and its
participating teams because whatever I have earned in life is
because of cricket and I will be delighted to serve the game
to contribute in the national duty “,he asserted.
Yousaf said the next three months are very important for
Pakistan cricket as after the tour of World XI, Sri Lankan and
West Indies teams will be visiting Pakistan.
“These are defining moments of Pakistan cricket and they
will decide the course of visits of foreign teams in near future
and once again we will be having international cricket events
in different parts of the country on regular basis”,he added.