Mohammad Yousuf Biography
(Sourc(google.com.pk)
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 stroke play.
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.
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