Mohammad Yousuf

Pakistan|Batter
Mohammad Yousuf
INTL CAREER: 1998 - 2010
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Full Name

Mohammad Yousuf

Born

August 27, 1974, Lahore, Punjab

Age

49y 205d

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Right arm Offbreak

Playing Role

Batter

RELATIONS

This much is at least certain that few Pakistani batsmen have been as elegant as Mohammad Yousuf and fewer still have been as prolific, as hungry to bat as long and bat as big.

At his best, watching Yousuf bat is an unnervingly tranquil experience, especially amid the traditional chaos of a Pakistan batting order. He has a dangerously high backlift, which makes every shot he plays, a late, unhurried afterthought, but a beautiful one. The feet take time to get going, but once they do, they dance with the best. Square and behind it on the off side are his areas, where his game is the most enchanting.

Both his life and career can be demarcated into two distinct phases. Until 2005, as Yousuf Youhana, he was only the fourth Christian to have played for Pakistan, and easily the most successful. He converted publicly to Islam late that year, after which he became a great Pakistani batsman and briefly part of as formidable a middle order as the country has seen, with Younis Khan and Inzamam-ul-Haq on either side. At least he believes there to be a link, and statistics would back that up.

Immediately after, in 2006, came his most profitable year, in fact the most profitable for any batsman ever in a calendar year. Over 11 Tests, he scored 1788 runs with nine hundreds, breaking Sir Viv Richards' 30-year-old record. If there had been a nagging doubt that he often withered when the heat was on - and the story of his rise from extremely humble backgrounds as a member of a minority religion should've wiped those away anyway - it was erased here.

Age, run-ins with the board since, and ill-advised flirtations with the ICL and captaincy dimmed his aura but the worst came in March 2010, when the PCB imposed a life-ban on him, along with Younis Khan as a part of its unprecedentedly harsh sanctions on senior players from the ill-fated tour of Australia. Yousuf's was overturned in 2010.
Osman Samiuddin

Mohammad Yousuf Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Tests9015612753022352.291437252.39243395751650
ODIs288273409720141*41.711294275.10156478590580
T20Is330502616.6643116.27005110
FC141239201050522347.96--3051--840
List A3383224711026141*40.09--1575--700
T20s2722336857*19.36337109.1901378110

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests901630---3.00-000
ODIs28822111/01/01.003.002.0000
T20Is3------------
FC141-18240---8.00-000
List A338-81311/01/013.009.758.0000
T20s271110---6.00-000
Mohammad Yousuf

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Photos of Mohammad Yousuf

Virat Kohli and Mohammad Yousuf share a light moment after the match
Mohammad Yousuf and Saqlain Mushtaq arrive at the Colombo airport
Mohammad Yousuf conducts a drill
Mohammad Yousuf was stumped as Warwickshire collapsed
Pakistan's squad trains ahead of the fourth ODI at Lord's
James Anderson celebrates after trapping Mohammad Yousuf in front