Islamabad: Pakistan batsman and former captain Mohammad Yousuf retired from international cricket on Monday in response to the Pakistan Cricket Board's decision to ban him for an indefinite period.
"I have retired from international cricket," Yousuf said in Karachi, adding he had received a letter from the PCB in which it was stated that his presence was harmful to the team.
"I don't want to harm Pakistan and it's better I should quit," Yousuf said.
The PCB suspended Yousuf and another former captain, Younis Khan, for an indefinite period earlier this month because of infighting between the two that affected the team's recent performances against Australia.
"Throughout my career I have tried to win laurels for the country," Yousuf said. "I am sorry not only to the whole nation but also to those if I have hurt them."
The 35-year-old Yousuf added that he will continue to play first class domestic cricket.
Yousuf said he would not go into the details of Pakistan's disastrous tour of Australia, in which they were whitewashed in the test and one-day series and lost their sole Twenty20 international.
When asked why he did not file an appeal against his ban, Yousuf said he may still consider doing so.
"But at the moment my decision is to quit international cricket," he said.
The PCB formed an inquiry committee soon after Pakistan lost the series in Australia. On the recommendations of the committee, the PCB banned Yousuf and Younis, fined and imposed one-year bans on Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and also imposed heavy fines on Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal.
Yousuf was elevated to the captaincy after Younis quit as skipper last year. Under his guidance, Pakistan drew their test series against New Zealand before losing 3-0 in tests and 5-0 in the one-day series against Australia.
Yousuf scored 7,431 runs in an 88-test career at an average of 53.07 with 24 centuries. In 282 one-day internationals, he made 9,624 runs at an average of 42.39, including 15 hundreds.
Until he converted to Islam in 2005, he played as Yousuf Youhana and was among a tiny group of Christians who had played international cricket for Pakistan.
In 2006, Yousuf scored nine test centuries and broke Viv Richards' world record for most test runs in a calendar year by making 1,788 runs in 11 tests.
