Mohammad Yousuf

Pakistan

Player profile

Full name Mohammad Yousuf
Born August 27, 1974, Lahore, Punjab
Current age 32 years 201 days
Major teams Pakistan, ACC Asian XI, Bahawalpur, Lahore, Pakistan International Airlines, Water and Power Development Authority
Also known as Yousuf Youhana
Batting style Right-hand bat

Statsguru Test player, ODI player

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	75	126	9	6553	223	56.00	12405	52.82	23	27	841	47	59	0
ODIs	234	221	32	7890	141*	41.74	10616	74.32	12	52	636	80	50	0
Twenty20 Int.	1	1	0	20	20	20.00	19	105.26	0	0	2	1	0	0
First-class	115	190	16	8833	223	50.76			27	42			76	0
List A	258	244	36	8413	141*	40.44			12	55			58	0
Twenty20	8	7	0	135	30	19.28	113	119.46	0	0			1	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4	5	10
Tests	75	6	3	0	-	-	-	3.00	-	0	0	0
ODIs	234	1	1	0	-	-	-	6.00	-	0	0	0
Twenty20 Int.	1	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	0	0	0
First-class	115	18	24	0	-	-	-	8.00	-	0	0	0
List A	258	7	13	0	-	-	-	11.14	-	0	0	0
Twenty20	8	1	1	0	-	-	-	6.00	-	0	0	0

Career statistics
Statsguru Tests filter | Statsguru One-Day Internationals filter
Test debut	South Africa v Pakistan at Durban - Feb 26-Mar 2, 1998 scorecard
Last Test	South Africa v Pakistan at Cape Town - Jan 26-28, 2007 scorecard
ODI debut	Zimbabwe v Pakistan at Harare - Mar 28, 1998 scorecard
Last ODI	West Indies v Pakistan at Kingston - Mar 13, 2007 scorecard
Only Twenty20 Int.	England v Pakistan at Bristol - Aug 28, 2006 scorecard
First-class span	1996/97 - 2006/07
List A span	1996/97 - 2006/07
Twenty20 span	2004/05 - 2006/07

Profile

Until his conversion to Islam in 2005, Mohammad Yousuf (formely known as Yousuf Youhana) was one of a handful of Christians to play for Pakistan. After a difficult debut against South Africa in 1997-98, he quickly established himself as a stylish world-class batsman, and a pillar of Pakistan's middle order, alongside Inzamam-ul-Haq. He is no sluggard, but gathers his runs through orthodox, composed strokeplay, unlike some of his colleagues who seldom hint at permanence. He is particularly strong driving through the covers and flicking wristily off his legs and brings with him as decadent and delicious a backlift as any in the game. A tendency to overbalance when playing across his front leg can get him into trouble. He excels at both versions of the game, and in one-day cricket can score 20 or 30 runs before anyone notices. He is quick between the wickets although not necessarily the best judge of a single. There had been questions about his temperament as batsman when the pressure is on, but between 2004 and 2005, he began to silence critics. First came a spellbindingly languid century against the Australians in Melbourne, as captain to boot, where he ripped into Shane Warne like few Pakistani batsmen have before or since. A century in the cauldron of Kolkatta followed but he ended the year with possibly his most important knock: a double century against England at Lahore so easy on the eye, you almost didn't notice it. Yousuf displaying an unusual responsibility, eschewing the waftiness that has previously blighted him. In 2006, Yousuf truly came of age in a record-breaking year. He began by plundering India and continued in England, not just scoring under pressure, but scoring big. A double ton at Lord's was followed by another big hundred at Headingly and the Oval. He rounded off a fantastic year with four hundreds in three Tests against the West Indies, a feat that took him past Viv Richards's long-standing record of most Test runs in a calendar year and also saw him establish the record for most Test hundreds (9) in a year. With Inzamam nearing a natural end as the 2007 World Cup approaches, the credentials of Yousuf as Pakistan's premier batsman are impressive.
Osman Samiuddin February 2007