Pakistan's new coach Geoff Lawson has said experienced middle-order batsman
Mohammad Yousuf's absence would be felt after he decided to join the rebel Indian
Cricket League.
"He (Yousuf) is a great player and his absence will surely be felt,"
Lawson said at his first news conference in Lahore.
Lawson, a former Australian fast bowler, rated paceman Shoaib Akhtar highly.
"He has a great temperament for a fast bowler, and I think
he could play for a long time," Lawson said.
Lawson, on a two-year coaching contract with the Pakistan Cricket Board,
has his first major international assignment next month when
Twenty20 World Championship begins in South Africa, for which selectors had
already named a 15-member squad, from which Yousuf and all-rounder Abdul Razzaq
have been omitted.
"Pakistan's squad is a balanced squad. They are very excited
and talented cricketers, and they want to do well. They are doing hard work
to improve their performance." He said he will only concentrate on coaching
the players, and will not interfere in selection.
"This (selection) is not my problem. It's job of selection committee,
and I would do my own work.
"I have no security problems while staying in Pakistan.
My job is to coach Pakistan cricket team."
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