Dearth of Test cricket will hamper progress of game in Pak: Yousuf

Lahore, Aug 30 (UNI) As Pakistan is not going to play any Test match this year, a dissapointed middle-order batsman Mohammad Yousuf asserted that lack of the longer version of the game would affect the development of cricketers in the country.

''It is very disappointing that Pakistan hasn't played a Test match this year. I don't think such a thing has happened to any country in the past,'' Yousuf said.

''We would have played at least three Tests had Australia toured Pakistan but it is very sad that we are having a year without Tests. The more Test matches in Pakistan, the better for the country since Test cricket is the real test of a player's temperament and skill,'' he added.

Pakistan last played a Test in December in India and their next match would also be against arch-rivals at home in January.

Yousuf, one of the Pakistan's most successful and stylish batsmen and a veteran of 79 Tests and 269 one-day internationals, earlier choose to opt out from the Champions Trophy due to his religious committment, however, the prolific batsman denied that he is losing the focus on the game due to religion.

''My religious duties are a way of life for me and cricket is my profession and passion. I don't mix both of them. I opted out of the Champions Trophy because I had prior commitments in Ramadhan,'' he said.

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