Pakistan Great Namedrops MS Dhoni In Massive Admission: "Decisive Moment"

Mohammad Yousuf said India have progressed quite well since the 2007 World Cup as compared to Pakistan.© AFP

The Indian cricket board making the right calls is the reason behind their national team's progress since the 2007 ODI World Cup when compared to Pakistan, says former captain Mohammad Yousuf. Both India and Pakistan were eliminated in the group stage of the 2007 ODI World Cup in the Caribbean, and Yousuf said it was a “decisive moment” for the two arch rivals, from which the former has edged ahead. “It was a decisive moment for both cricket boards, and I just feel that after that, the Indian board made the right calls, like appointing MS Dhoni, etc., while in contrast, in Pakistan, the wrong calls were made, because of which Pakistan cricket is struggling now,” Yousuf said on a YouTube podcast.

Yousuf said India are also reaping benefits of having players being nurtured by former captain and head coach Rahul Dravid.

“India's success also comes down to the way Rahul Dravid managed their junior cricket, and over the years, the work he put in identifying and grooming players has paid off for them now,” he said.

“I think Virat (Kohli) is the best white-ball player of this era. Unfortunately, after 2019, we have not produced the sort of players you need to maintain dominance at the top level, the sort of players we had in the 80s or 90s,” Yousuf said.

The former Pakistan middle-order mainstay said that the current players do not want to do the hard yards.

“The unfortunate part is that I feel some of these current players don't want to also put in the extra hours and hard work. I have been a batting coach with the Pakistan team, and I can tell you at times felt these players didn't want to learn,” he said.

“Cricket is a sport where no matter how much you have played, you learn something new every day. The moment you think you know everything is when you start going downhill,” Yousuf added.

Yousuf, who has served as the national team's selector and bating coach, said Pakistan were still doing better when Sarfaraz Ahmed was their captain.

“I felt that Sarfaraz sacrificed a lot for his team because he wanted to see the team do well. I remember telling him, ‘Why don't you bat higher?' and he said, ‘For him, the team result mattered the most, not his position',” he said.

Yousuf said the problems started for Pakistan cricket after the sidelining of Sarfaraz and frequent changes have not helped their cause either.

Citing his example, Yousuf said he himself couldn't understand why he was removed as head coach of the junior team after just two events. “I don't know; it made no sense,” he said.

Yousuf said Babar Azam has technical flaws in his batting which he is not working on.

“I spent time with Babar in New Zealand when I was batting coach trying to make him understand where he was going wrong, but he was unwilling to make any changes,” Yousuf said.

Yousuf also declined the notion that social media pressure could be playing its part.

“Tell me, isn't the social media pressure more on Indian players, so how do they manage?,” he asked.

“This is just an excuse; as a professional cricketer, you have to dedicate a lot of time to maintaining and improving your art,” Yousuf said.

Yousuf said senior players not listening to coaches was a problem in Pakistan cricket.

“We tend to blame the coaches for everything, but what can a coach do when the players don't do what they are supposed to do?,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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