Concerned that Twenty20 might eat into the fan base of Test cricket, Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif has urged administrators to keep the number of games in the shortest format to a minimum.
KARACHI: Concerned that Twenty20 might eat into the fan base of Test cricket, Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif has urged administrators to keep the number of games in the shortest format to a minimum.
"Once in four years is okay for a Twenty20 World Cup because too much of it will harm Test cricket and people will lose interest in it," Asif, one among the 11 Pakistani players who returned home after losing in the final to India, told.
The lanky pacer was not too impressed with the newest format and said it was loaded in favour of the batsmen and offered nothing to the bowlers.
"For a bowler, the T20 format is not an easy one, especially if the pitch is not supportive to the bowlers," he lamented.
On the final loss to India, Asif said there was hardly anything to choose between the two teams despite his side finishing second best on the given day.
"In Durban, it was a tied match and we lost on the bowl-out which was a strange way to get a result. In the final, we made some mistakes and paid for it. But overall, it was a good performance from the team which played like a team," Asif said.
Asif said the only area where the Indians proved better in the finals was handling pressure.
"They kept their nerves under pressure better than us at critical moments. It was not our destiny to win the final. Next time, inshallah, we will win the final," he said.
Meanwhile, Younis Khan also bemoaned the lost opportunity to win a major title.
"We had a great opportunity to not only win a big title but also end this jinx against India in World Cup matches.
"Unfortunately, it didn't work out for us," he told at the airport.
Younis, who got out to a reckless shot in the final which tilted the match in favour of India, said there was no disgrace in the defeat as the team fought hard.
"We made a couple of mistakes and they held their cool. It was not our day." Player of the tournament Shahid Afridi, who was criticised for his soft dismissal in the final, avoided the media and headed straight to his car from a side gate leaving the large media contingent stunned.
Salman Butt, Fawad Alam, Umar Gul, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Arafat, Misbah-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal were the others to return home.
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