Mohammad Yousuf shows sympathy for bowlers by AFP

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Ground:	Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Scorecard:	Pakistan v West Indies
Player:	Mohammad Yousuf
Event:	West Indies in Pakistan 2006/07

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DateLine: 13th November 2006

 

Pakistan's prolific batsman Mohammad Yousuf on Sunday had kind words for bowlers, whom he has been punishing all through the year, saying they deserved better wickets.

 

"I think world over, wickets in general are flat and Test cricket has become a batsmen-dominated game," said Yousuf, who hit an unbeaten 107 off 190 balls to help Pakistan reach 265-4 on the second day of the first Test against the West Indies.

 

Yousuf put on 125 runs for an unbroken fifth wicket stand with Shoaib Malik (61 not out) to give Pakistan a handy first innings lead of 59 over West Indies' score of 206.

 

Yousuf, whose 20th century had 14 boundaries, said he had seen flat wickets since making his debut in South Africa eight years ago.

 

"I've been seeing flat wickets for the last 10 years or so and there's little help for the bowlers," said Yousuf, whose century on Sunday was his sixth this year.

 

"It doesn't mean that lot of grass should be left on the wicket where it becomes impossible for batsmen to play strokes, but at least there should be some bounce that could encourage the bowlers," he said.

 

He praised the West Indian bowlers despite their relative lack of success on a flat Gaddafi stadium pitch.

 

"It was simply unplayable and any team in the world could have struggled there," said the 32-year-old batsman.

 

When Yousuf reached 32, he overhauled Salim Malik's 5,768 Test runs to become the third-highest run-getter for Pakistan, behind Javed Miandad (8,832) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (8,498).

(Article: Copyright © 2006 AFP)