Yousuf not first choice skipper for Kiwi, Australia tour: Ejaz Butt

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ejaz Butt has said Mohammed Yousuf was not the first choice skipper to lead the squad during the New Zealand and Australia tour rather circumstances compelled him to name him as the captain.

“It was not possible to appoint a young player to lead the Pakistan team on long, difficult tours of New Zealand and Australia. That’s why we were forced to make Yousuf captain. Yousuf led the national team (in New Zealand and Australia) after five long years and it was a difficult task,” Butt said.

In an interview with a foreign website, Butt rejected criticism that the team has been facing due to its pitiable performance Down Under, terming it as ‘unfair’ and ‘unnecessary’.

Butt said certain unpleasant developments had forced him to change four skippers in just one year.

The PCB defended the appointment of three coaches (Intikhab Alam, Waqar Younis and Aaqib Javed), who are all former bowlers, with the national team, but did not supported the idea of appointing a batting coach.

Butt said the National Cricket Academy (NCA) was a better place to hone batsmen’s skills.

Rejecting criticism over the team’s complete failure in Australia, Butt said it is ‘unjust’ to blame the players, as they were out of international action for a long time.

“We can change the whole lot of current players with new blood. However, we cannot drop experienced players overnight, and would replace them with the passage of time,” Butt said.

He also criticised India’s decision to cancel its tour to Pakistan in 2008, saying the refusal severely affected PCB’s finances.