DUBAI: Former Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf says playing their 'home' cricket in the United Arab Emirates is damaging the country's development, as the decks are not conducive to well-rounded skills development, Arab media reported on Wednesday.
Yousuf feels that the tracks in Bangladesh or Sri Lanka, which offer a bit more pace, would be better for the side, given they cannot play their internationals on home soil.
PaKistan have not hosted a Test since 2009, when a terror attack on the Sri Lanka team bus saw all international cricket suspended in the country. Since then, only Zimbabwe have toured there, as recently as last year.
Yousuf said of the UAE as a home base to PTI: "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.
"If it is all about creating records, fine. But it is not helping our cricket in any way 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.
"Sri Lanka or Bangladesh are far better options as conditions there are more suited for cricket."
Pakistan are currently playing in a Test series in England, where the scoreline is level at one all going into the third Test.