By IANS,
Karachi : Mohammad Yousuf, Pakistan’s premier batsman and now an Indian Cricket League (ICL) player, has predicted that cricket’s love affair with the popular Twenty20 version will soon end.
Yousuf said he firmly believes that Twenty20 cricket will fade out as fans and players will both give more importance to one-day internationals a few years from now.
“Twenty20 cricket is not here to stay,” Yousuf, regarded among the most successful batsmen, told Jang’s Midweek Magazine.
“There is too much luck involved in it. I believe that with the passage of a few years, people will get bored of it and return to the one-dayers.”
Twenty20 has become the most popular version of cricket within a few years. Multi-million dollar leagues in India have added to the charm of the shortest version of the international game.
The Lahore-born player is currently out of favour with the national cricket top brass because of his association with the ICL.
Yousuf, who is keen to return to the national team, said he would want to set up a cricket academy after retiring.
“We are going through a lean phase,” he said. “We have failed to produce players who could replace the likes of Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saeed Anwar and Aamer Sohail.”