Yousuf to expose spoiling elements in few days

"Two or three players are spoiling things in the team and I will expose their names in next few days," said Yousuf, who led the Pakistan team in the disappointing Australian tour recently.

Yousuf had earlier said that one single player was responsible for disturbing the unity in the team but refused to reveal the name and also claimed that the team management has agreed with his viewpoint.

Appearing in a television channel, Yousuf also observed the current national side seriously lack the batting prowess and claimed that even World Cup winning captain Imran Khan would have found it tough to put the things together if given responsibility of the side.

"The present team probably has one of the weakest batting line-ups in recent years. Today even if Imran was captain he would have got worried and upset and have problems controlling this outfit," Yousuf said.

Pakistan lost both Test and One-day series and then the lone Twenty20 international against Australia.

Yousuf, however, said he didn't have any complaint with the present board and insisted that it was during the tenure of the previous chairman Nasim Ashraf that things went out of hand.

"It was a big mistake of Nasim Ashraf to make Shoaib Malik the captain as it was during his captaincy that the culture of groupings took root in the team and respect for senior players went down," Yousuf said.

Yousuf said if the board wanted to appoint a young player as a captain then it should also give him adequate time to be groomed and get used to leading the team.
"The problem is that in our cricket since captains are changed frequently even the weak and junior players get strong and defy authority. It also adds to the problem of the captain when he himself is not sure until when the board will have confidence in him," Yousuf said.

He also disclosed that during the final Test against Australia, he was told by the PCB to either play Malik in the Test or send him back home. He also pointed out that a coach could do nothing if the players were not willing to execute the game-plan accordingly.
"What can a coach do if the players are bent upon on playing in their own way and ignoring the team plan?"

Yousuf said he was wiling to play under a younger captain but on condition that the player was as good a performer as India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni or South African Graeme Smith when they were first given the leadership of their national teams.
Yousuf said the defeats in Australia were the direct result of poor fielding and batting. "We dropped around 30 catches on the tour and if they had been taken things would have been different," he said.