Yousuf is the best among the rest

The record-breaking Mohammad Yousuf would definitely be under pressure to perform in South Africa after such a gigantic performance in 2006.


Pakistan have produced several world class players in different sports and many of them have won numerous laurels for the motherland but very few were encouraged and honoured as Mohammad Yousuf has been during the last couple of weeks. Though a lot has been written about Yousuf's calendar year feats, some of his aspects and landmarks remain untouched entirely.

Very few know that Yousuf is probably the only batsman in Test history who struck four centuries in a three-Test series. Soft-spoken Yousuf grabbed two more world records which were overlooked strangely. He became the first player who succumbed to three 190 plus scores in a year and five 150 plus scores in a calendar year are another rare feat.

Yousuf earned another honour at Multan when he completed his 6000 Test runs in only 120 Test innings. Former captain Javed Miandad (133 innings) was the previous fastest 6000 runs scorer for Pakistan. Even world class batsmen like Ricky Ponting (125), Brian Lara (126), Rahul Dravid (125), Greg Chappell (129) and Inzamamul Haq (135) consumed more innings than Yousuf in reaching the landmark.

Yousuf, who equalled Javed Miandad's Test centuries record in a mere 73 games, is probably the second fastest to reach 23 hundreds after Donald Bradman. It is worth mentioning that Yousuf is still 51 Tests behind Miandad's 124 career matches even then he has managed to level the centuries tally which shows Yousuf's consistency and amazing potential.

The upcoming South African trip would provide Yousuf a golden chance to extend his run of centuries and half centuries. He can grab a couple of more world records in South Africa if he manages to score century or half century in the first Test innings at least there.

It may be recalled here that South Africa and Sri Lanka are the only countries which are missing from Yousuf's centuries list. The record-breaking Mohammad Yousuf would definitely be under pressure to perform in South Africa after such a gigantic performance in 2006.

In other words we can say that the South Africa tour would be a test of Yousuf's batting skills. Remember during his last trip in 2002-03, he hammered a whirlwind fifty in a Test off just 27 balls at Cape Town. This time he is in a position to provide much needed inspiration to the Pakistan cricket team in South Africa where the green flag-bearers have never won a Test or ODI series.