Yousuf felt playing in UAE has impacted the technique of the batsmen. "Playing on the flat and low-bounce pitches of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai has already affected our cricket and our players, and if we don't stop organising our series there it will eventually damage our cricket," he told the Press Trust of India on Wednesday (August 3). "If it is all about creating records, fine. But it is not helping our cricket in anyway and we will stop producing players capable of playing on any surface in a few years' time if we continue playing our home series in UAE."
Presenting a strong case against playing in UAE, Yousuf also offered alternative options. "Let us be straight, so far we have not encountered any typical English pitch in the ongoing series," he said. "Sri Lanka or Bangladesh are far better options as conditions there are more suited for cricket."
Yousuf also felt that PCB's decision to increase the number of Twenty20 matches will also deter the all-round growth of the team, citing the example of West Indies. Pakistan currently has Pakistan Super League and a national T20 tournament in one season.
"T20 cricket, if allowed to be held uncontrolled, will also eventually damage our cricket and our players and we will end up like the West Indies is struggling now in the longer format. T20 not a format where which can produce technically sound players," he said. "At present there is a mushrooming of T20 cricket so much so that even at the club level and schools level there is too much emphasis on T20 cricket. We need to have more 40 over and 50 over games at the lower level or we wouldn't produce technically sound players.
"If we find competent players in first class or 50-over matches we will automatically also discover players who can do well in T20 cricket."
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