Mohammad Yousuf Biography
Mohammad Yousuf (formerly
Yousuf Youhana, born 27 August 1974, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan) is a Pakistani
cricketer who has been a member of the Pakistani national cricket team since
1998. He is best known for his achievement in 2006 when he broke the great West
Indian batsman, Sir Vivian Richards', world record for the most Test runs in a
single calendar year. Prior to his conversion to Islam in 2005, Yousuf was one
of the few Christians to play in the Pakistan national cricket team. He made
his Test debut against South Africa at Durban and ODI debut against Zimbabwe at
Harare. He has scored over 9,000 ODI runs at an average of 43.63 (2rd highest
batting average among Pakistani batsmen after Zaheer Abbas and 6,770 Test runs
at an average of 55.49 (highest batting average amongst all Pakistani batsmen)
with 23 Test centuries. He has the record of scoring the most runs without
being dismissed in ODIs, 405 against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe in 2002-03. He has
also scored a 23-ball fifty in ODIs, and a 68-ball hundred. In Tests he has
scored a 27-ball fifty, which is 3rd fastest by any player. He was top scorer
during the successive years of 2002 and 2003 in the world in ODIs. In 2004, he
scored a memorable 111 against the Australians in the Boxing Day Test. In December
2005, he scored 223 against England at Lahore, also earning him the man of the
match award. Seven months later in July 2006, when Pakistan toured England, he
scored 202 and 48 in the first Test, again earning himself the man of the match
award. He followed up with 192 in the third Test at Headingley and 128 in the
final Test at the Oval. Yousuf was named CNN-IBN�s Cricketer of
the Year for 2006, ahead of the likes of Australian captain Ricky Ponting, West
Indies Brian Lara, Australian spinner Shane Warne, South Africa�s bowling spearhead Makhaya Ntini and Sri Lanka�s Muttiah Muralitharan. He was selected as a Wisden Cricketer of the
Year in the 2007 edition. Yousuf became the fourth recipient of the ICC 'Test
Cricketer of the Year' award for 2007, he scored 944 runs at an average of
94.40 including five centuries and two fifties in just 10 innings and that was
enough to be awarded the honour ahead of Kevin Pietersen and Ricky Ponting.
Yousuf was also named in the 2007 Test team of the Year alongside compatriot
Mohammad Asif. A year that started on a promising note, Yousuf carried it
forward to break two world records both held earlier by West Indian great Sir
Vivian Richards. The 32-year-old smashed an unparalleled 1788 runs in just 11
Test matches with the help of nine centuries � his second
record � taking him beyond the Windies great yet again. Yousuf is known for his
ability to score runs at exceptional rate through his great technique and
composed strokeplay. Although capable of hitting the ball hard, Yousuf is quick
between the wickets, although he is prone to being run out. Yousuf is a
skillful infielder, with a report prepared in late 2005 showing that since the
1999 Cricket World Cup, he had effected the ninth highest number of run-outs in
ODI cricket of any fieldsman. He is also distinguished by his characteristic
celebration after hitting one hundred runs for his country, where he prostrates
in thankfulness to Allah in the direction of Mecca. He has observed this act
(known as the Sajdah) recently since his conversion to Islam.
Mohammad Yousuf
Mohammad Yousuf
Mohammad Yousuf
Mohammad Yousuf
Mohammad Yousuf
Mohammad Yousuf
Mohammad Yousuf
Mohammad Yousuf
Mohammad Yousuf
Mohammad Yousuf
Mohammad Yousuf
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