In 1974, Yousuf Youhana was born in the green fields of Pakistani province Punjab,
in a Christian family. The city in which he born is one of the most
crowded cities of Pakistan named Lahore. At that time nobody knew that
the boy will become a legendary
cricketer and one of the few Christians who play cricket for Pakistan.
He made his Test debut on 26 February, 1998, against South Africa at
Durban, and since then he has played 90 Test matches, scoring 7,530 runs
in 156 innings at an average of 52.29.
In Test cricket he holds the record of scoring the most runs in a
calendar year. He had marked this achievement after breaking the record
of West Indian legend, Vivian Richards, as he made 1,788 runs at an
average of 99.88 in 2006.
The year 2006 is said to be the year of Mohammad Yousaf, Muttiah Muralitharan
and four times World Champions Australia. During his Test career he
smashed 24 centuries and 33 fifties. He played his last Test game
against England at Lord’s on 26 August last
year. He has a highest score of 223 in Test cricket.
Mohammad Yousaf’s One Day International (ODI) career started in 1998 in a match against Zimbabwe
at Harare on 28 March. Since then he has played 288 ODIs and scored
9,720 at an average of 41.71 with the highest score of 141 not out. He
has scored 15 hundreds
and 64 half-centuries and played his last ODI against South Africa at Dubai, on 8 November, 2010.
His T20I Career is very short, in which he played only three matches
and scored only 50 runs at an average of 16.66 with the highest score of
26. In First-class cricket, he has played 141 matches after starting
his first-class career in 1996-97. He scored
10, 505 runs at an average of 47.96 with the highest score of 223.
Mohammad Yousaf has played for Pakistan as a Christian until 2005. In 2005 he embraced Islam and became a devout Muslim.
Yousaf is the third Pakistani batsman who surmounted the 6000-run mark in Test cricket. The other two are the great Javed Miandad and Inzamam-ul-Haq. He scored twin hundreds against West Indies at Karachi to become the sixth Pakistani and 30th
cricketer who scored a hundred in each innings of a Test match.
The Pakistan Cricket Board had imposed an indefinite ban on him from
playing all forms of cricket, and then on 29 March 2010, he announced
his retirement from International cricket just one day after he was
banned.
Yousaf revealed at a press conference in Karachi, "I received a
letter from the PCB that my staying in the team is harmful for the team,
so I announce my retirement from international cricket."
On 27 March, Yousaf revealed that he had decided to retire from
International cricket. "Yes, I have decided to retire as Pakistan player
and my decision is not an emotional one", Yousuf told press agency AFP,
"It's of no use playing if my playing is harmful
to the team."
He was imposed indefinite ban due to disciplinary issues during Pakistan’s last tour to Australia.
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