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What was the actual background of Mohammad Yousuf?

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pratiktc

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Dear fellow PPers,
I was trying to dig into the history of Mohammed Yousuf (aka Yousuf Youhana). I find it interesting how such an obviously talented batter made his FC and list A debuts so late at age of 22 when almost every batter who ever amounted to anything comes into system by 17-18 yrs.

If anybody can shed some light on his background and rise into formal cricket (if possible with sources) I would really be glad to read.

Unfortunately there seem to be no readily available biographies or news articles from his early days. Even in cricinfo archives his name/s make an appearance only in 1999-2000. This is probably because of spelling issues and name commonality.
 
He said in an interview he had learnt to be a tailor and was set to start that work when local cricket team called him to fill in for someone for a tournament. He scored a century there and never looked back. Destiny is an amazing thing.
 
Bhaijaan said:
He said in an interview he had learnt to be a tailor and was set to start that work when local cricket team called him to fill in for someone for a tournament. He scored a century there and never looked back. Destiny is an amazing thing.
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His father was apparently a janitor. A lot of cricketers in the 90's i.e. Saqlain, Shoaib, Yousaf were rags to riches stories.
 
He comes from a very humble beginning I know most Pakistani players do but he really came from the bottom his father was sweeper in Pakistan railways also coming from minority community along with such a poor background I am sure he did not have any parchi at to get in to age group cricket .

Most likely he got lucky like most 80’s and 90’s cricketers for Pakistan where they caught eye of some influential former player who gave them a break

In 80’s and 90’s we had some gems like Haseeb Ahsan and few others type who had a genuine eye for finding diamond in the mud and giving them chances I believe the disappearance of such selfless individuals and them getting replaced by toxic former players like Aqib , Waqar etc has also contributed to Pakistan cricket decline
 
Yousuf never openly shared his story. But there are many interviews of his on youtube where he does give a few glimpses of his bg.

He did start working as a tailor at one time. Didnt know about his fathers profession.
 
I heard Yousuf speak on this a few years ago on some TV show

Yousuf was originally from Lahore and a very good/talented batter but he didn’t have the sifarish or links to break into the Lahore main team. They were not even looking at him.

He was recommended to go to Bahawalpur and try his luck with them. They gave him his big break and that’s when he started to rack up the runs

Something along these lines, it was Bahawalpur who let Yousuf into the FC scene, otherwise he was all set to just carry on working at some shop as a darzi or something.

This is why I feel that the many regions+departments thing isn’t the worst when it comes to Pakistan domestic cricket. A lot of these underprivileged players with no sifarish or backing might just get their chance in one of the lesser teams and break down the door for themselves.
 
Rana said:
I heard Yousuf speak on this a few years ago on some TV show

Yousuf was originally from Lahore and a very good/talented batter but he didn’t have the sifarish or links to break into the Lahore main team. They were not even looking at him.

He was recommended to go to Bahawalpur and try his luck with them. They gave him his big break and that’s when he started to rack up the runs

Something along these lines, it was Bahawalpur who let Yousuf into the FC scene, otherwise he was all set to just carry on working at some shop as a darzi or something.

This is why I feel that the many regions+departments thing isn’t the worst when it comes to Pakistan domestic cricket. A lot of these underprivileged players with no sifarish or backing might just get their chance in one of the lesser teams and break down the door for themselves.
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Departments have supported alot of our sportsman. Arshad Nadeem is a product of department and not region. He was backed by a department.

Regions have too much politics. In a region the best player doesnt get selected, but the player who the most influence whose club will influece the regions presidents vote.
 
The Bald Eagle said:
Nice topic, was a brilliant find and the backbone of Pakistan's middle order. Unlike Misbah etc was not a statpadder
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Why Misbah? There is no comparison between Mohd Yousuf and Misbah.

Yousuf was one of the best Batsmen Pakistan ever produced. Moyo is in league with Younis Khan, Inzamam, Zaheer Abbas, Majid Khan, Hanif Mohammad and Miandad etc. Misbah never belonged in that category, technically Misbah had a rock solid defense which he used to stay at the wicket, but his stroke play wasn't of the top most quality. Misbah's resilience often saved Pakistan but he wasn't playing for stats (his stats are not that great anyways).
 
People need to understand that the realities of departments is different today vs the 80's, 90's and 2000's. Departments are now cutting corners and are not investing in sports to the levels that they did 20-30 years ago. They are spending the bare minimum and in some cases a lot of departments have abolished their sports departments, teams and are not interested in participating in Pakistan's domestic cricket structure anymore. The departments that are fielding their teams are paying the players a pittance and not giving them any long term contracts as was the case previously, a lot of sportsmen are told to report to their desk jobs or pack up and leave. The PCB is now forced to invest all of their resources into supporting Pakistan's domestic structure.
 
Savak said:
People need to understand that the realities of departments is different today vs the 80's, 90's and 2000's. Departments are now cutting corners and are not investing in sports to the levels that they did 20-30 years ago. They are spending the bare minimum and in some cases a lot of departments have abolished their sports departments, teams and are not interested in participating in Pakistan's domestic cricket structure anymore. The departments that are fielding their teams are paying the players a pittance and not giving them any long term contracts as was the case previously, a lot of sportsmen are told to report to their desk jobs or pack up and leave. The PCB is now forced to invest all of their resources into supporting Pakistan's domestic structure.
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Again, this my repeated question for everyone that post bs here.

Have you lived in Pakistan?

Go to Lahore only. Servis industry funds a whole sports department over there. In Pindi KRL and ARL have heavily invested.

Investment in cricket is not just fielding an 11 and giving salaries. There are grounds, its maintenance and clubs that these department.

Ghani Glass has made one of the biggest cricket clubs in Pakistan and has made its own ground and is running a Ghani Institute of cricket. SNGPL has not only been running a cricket team but also been giving secure jobs to its cricketers. Servis industry is well known in Lahore. The whole Quetta Gladiators is funded by Omar Associates which itself fields 2nd 11 department teams.

Your only gold winning Olympic medalist in track and field came from non other than a department.

Go read football players interviews and how they got affected when departments were shut.

Your favorite Imran Khan was the reason why depts started to shut down. Because he had his own stupid ideas that he tried to enforce in Pakistan and it did more damage in the cricket circle of Pakistan. Once the department ban was in place, alot of departments shut their shop. Wapda and SNGPL were able to sustain the losses and knew once this lunatic is out they can bring back department cricket.

Department cricket was soo much on the rise that somewhere in 2012 departments were even running their own u19 teams aswell.

Just because your favourite politician said departments are bad, doesnt make them bad. Analyze yourself.
 
cricketAXEpert said:
Why Misbah? There is no comparison between Mohd Yousuf and Misbah.

Yousuf was one of the best Batsmen Pakistan ever produced. Moyo is in league with Younis Khan, Inzamam, Zaheer Abbas, Majid Khan, Hanif Mohammad and Miandad etc. Misbah never belonged in that category, technically Misbah had a rock solid defense which he used to stay at the wicket, but his stroke play wasn't of the top most quality. Misbah's resilience often saved Pakistan but he wasn't playing for stats (his stats are not that great anyways).
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Agree no comparison between Both
 
Indian posters trying to find something fishy with M Yousuf:inzi :afridi.

Yousuf said it in Tabish Hashmi show that Majid Khan (CEO of PCB at the time) watched him bat on a difficult wicket in a televised game and ended up selecting him for international cricket.

Junaid Khan has an interesting story as well. His friend was interested in attending PCB talent hunt camp in Swabi and took Junaid with him. PCB selected Junaid.
 
The Bald Eagle said:
Nice topic, was a brilliant find and the backbone of Pakistan's middle order. Unlike Misbah etc was not a statpadder.
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I disagree with AXEpert. I think there's a clear need to distinguish between who deserves admiration and who doesn't, as you've rightly pointed out. Yousuf was a top tier batsman, who deserves far more respect and appreciation compared to Misbah.

It's sad that there are more people who are fans of Misbah, whereas no one and I repeat no one has the same craze for MoYo. But this is to be expected because mediocre fans will always find common ground with mediocrity.
 
topspin said:
I disagree with AXEpert. I think there's a clear need to distinguish between who deserves admiration and who doesn't, as you've rightly pointed out. Yousuf was a top tier batsman, who deserves far more respect and appreciation compared to Misbah.

It's sad that there are more people who are fans of Misbah, whereas no one and I repeat no one has the same craze for MoYo. But this is to be expected because mediocre fans will always find common ground with mediocrity.
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Simply put what I believe is that Misbah either was a stat padder or a really slow starter. While MoYO was as fluent and clean as whistle
 
topspin said:
I disagree with AXEpert. I think there's a clear need to distinguish between who deserves admiration and who doesn't, as you've rightly pointed out. Yousuf was a top tier batsman, who deserves far more respect and appreciation compared to Misbah.

It's sad that there are more people who are fans of Misbah, whereas no one and I repeat no one has the same craze for MoYo. But this is to be expected because mediocre fans will always find common ground with mediocrity.
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Real fans and enthusiasts off the sport admire him bro, he is always synonymous with Pakistani Great debates; you will never ever find Misbah the fraud in that discussion
 
The Bald Eagle said:
Simply put what I believe is that Misbah either was a stat padder or a really slow starter. While MoYO was as fluent and clean as whistle
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Possibly Pakistan's best ever batsman against swing bowling. He was brilliant in overcast conditions as well.

It's a shame that he doesn't get the admiration he deserves from Pakistan fans.

Babar, Rizwan and Misbah look so mediocre in front of him, yet they have more fans than MoYo.
 
Rana said:
I heard Yousuf speak on this a few years ago on some TV show

Yousuf was originally from Lahore and a very good/talented batter but he didn’t have the sifarish or links to break into the Lahore main team. They were not even looking at him.

He was recommended to go to Bahawalpur and try his luck with them. They gave him his big break and that’s when he started to rack up the runs

Something along these lines, it was Bahawalpur who let Yousuf into the FC scene, otherwise he was all set to just carry on working at some shop as a darzi or something.

This is why I feel that the many regions+departments thing isn’t the worst when it comes to Pakistan domestic cricket. A lot of these underprivileged players with no sifarish or backing might just get their chance in one of the lesser teams and break down the door for themselves.
Click to expand...

I have some links with Bahawalpur with my Grandma being from there, iA I will visit there one day. She was tough as old boots; not surprised Yousuf found fortune down there mA Always hear good things about the place.
 
topspin said:
I disagree with AXEpert. I think there's a clear need to distinguish between who deserves admiration and who doesn't, as you've rightly pointed out. Yousuf was a top tier batsman, who deserves far more respect and appreciation compared to Misbah.

It's sad that there are more people who are fans of Misbah, whereas no one and I repeat no one has the same craze for MoYo. But this is to be expected because mediocre fans will always find common ground with mediocrity.
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Yousuf was my favorite batsmen growing up and will always be one. His batting was light years ahead of misbah and frankly it's an insult for Yousuf to be compared to misbah.
 
shaz619 said:
I have some links with Bahawalpur with my Grandma being from there, iA I will visit there one day. She was tough as old boots; not surprised Yousuf found fortune down there mA Always hear good things about the place.
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They need to be highlighted more for this one great thing they did for Pakistan cricket. Yousuf by far one of the GOAT batters and an absolute pride of the nation

There are so many privileged, rich kids in SENA countries who can have their parents spend all of the money in the world on coaching….but they will not be able to become a gem like Yousuf who learned it all in the narrow gullies of Lahore with probably a plank as a bat!
 
Major said:
Misbah is a Pakistani hall of famer, yousuf hasnt been added in the pcb hall of fame as of yet.

So when that happens, than make a comparison. Filhal, yousuf is no where near.
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This has to be a joke. Anyone who knows anything about cricket will know Yousuf was far far better than misbah.
 
khyberlion said:
This has to be a joke. Anyone who knows anything about cricket will know Yousuf was far far better than misbah.
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Misbah holds a higher batting avg in ICC tournaments compared to Yousuf.

ANyways, PCB have added Misbah in the Hall of Fame and not Yousuf. That tells you the story.
 
Major said:
Misbah holds a higher batting avg in ICC tournaments compared to Yousuf.

ANyways, PCB have added Misbah in the Hall of Fame and not Yousuf. That tells you the story.
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Misbah has better average than inzi in ICC tournaments. Do you rate misbah higher than inzi too? Seems like it's not just time pass section where your posts are questionable.
 
khyberlion said:
Misbah has better average than inzi in ICC tournaments. Do you rate misbah higher than inzi too? Seems like it's not just time pass section where your posts are questionable.
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Yup.

Inzi was the biggest bottler of ICC tournaments.

Now I wonder if you are gonna cry racism in this thread too, which you do in all threads.
 
Major said:
Yup.

Inzi was the biggest bottler of ICC tournaments.

Now I wonder if you are gonna cry racism in this thread too, which you do in all threads.
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Inzi won a world cup and misbah lost us couple all by himself. Yes we can see who was a bottler.

I can't believe we have people here who think misbah is better than inzi lol.
 
Major said:
Misbah is a Pakistani hall of famer, yousuf hasnt been added in the pcb hall of fame as of yet.

So when that happens, than make a comparison. Filhal, yousuf is no where near.
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Can't believe what I just read
 
khyberlion said:
Inzi won a world cup and misbah lost us couple all by himself. Yes we can see who was a bottler.

I can't believe we have people here who think misbah is better than inzi lol.
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Misbah won a World T20 and a Test mace, so.....
 
Major said:
Misbah won a World T20 and a Test mace, so.....
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The only reason Pakistan won is because choker misbah didn't get to bat in the final or semi final. I am sure he would have cost us there too.

Expect a misbah fan boy to bring a test mace which no one cares about.
 
khyberlion said:
The only reason Pakistan won is because choker misbah didn't get to bat in the final or semi final. I am sure he would have cost us there too.

Expect a misbah fan boy to bring a test mace which no one cares about.
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Yes, you are right, no one cares about the main format of the game, for which Misbah won the test mace...........

Atleast reread what you write.

Like i said, when Yousuf is added to the PCB hall of fame, than we can talk. Right now he is not in the PCB hall of fame while Misbah is.
 
daytrader said:
Surprise surprise. Another thread turning into Misbah bashing by the usual haters. He certainly lives rent free in some heads.

When you start comparing everyone to Misbah ul Haq, that means the man was on to something.
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I actually love it how Misbah gets dragged in and comparison starts

Basically, people know he was the most influential cricketer from Pakistan that the comparison starts.

Like there are other guys, but seeda Misbah sey compare ketna.
 
pratiktc said:
Dear fellow PPers,
I was trying to dig into the history of Mohammed Yousuf (aka Yousuf Youhana). I find it interesting how such an obviously talented batter made his FC and list A debuts so late at age of 22 when almost every batter who ever amounted to anything comes into system by 17-18 yrs.

If anybody can shed some light on his background and rise into formal cricket (if possible with sources) I would really be glad to read.

Unfortunately there seem to be no readily available biographies or news articles from his early days. Even in cricinfo archives his name/s make an appearance only in 1999-2000. This is probably because of spelling issues and name commonality.
Click to expand...
The son of a railway worker brought up in modest surroundings, he once pondered a career as a tailor before battling to make the grade in domestic cricket.

Unusually for a player on the subcontinent, he was made to wait until the age of 23 before breaking into the national team

Source: BBC
 
daytrader said:
Surprise surprise. Another thread turning into Misbah bashing by the usual haters. He certainly lives rent free in some heads.

When you start comparing everyone to Misbah ul Haq, that means the man was on to something.
Click to expand...

All started by a mod.

Amazing.

Anyways, both are legends of Pakistan cricket.

One won us countless things and made us number 1 ranked Test team, highest average as a captain and highest average in ICC tournaments. Definition of leading from the front like Imran Khan in cricket.

Other was a very pleasing to the eye solid batsman with highest runs in a calendar year. Very good technique.
 
topspin said:
Possibly Pakistan's best ever batsman against swing bowling. He was brilliant in overcast conditions as well.

It's a shame that he doesn't get the admiration he deserves from Pakistan fans.

Babar, Rizwan and Misbah look so mediocre in front of him, yet they have more fans than MoYo.
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Yousaf's performances in ICC tourneys however were dire. Just like the modern generation. Nor did his innings ever let us to an away win in Australia or SA.
 
Pakpak said:
Yousaf's performances in ICC tourneys however were dire. Just like the modern generation. Nor did his innings ever let us to an away win in Australia or SA.
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I put him below Javed Miandad, Younis and maybe Inzi from the modern era.

He was a great batsman but didn't have the grit of the other guys.
 
daytrader said:
Surprise surprise. Another thread turning into Misbah bashing by the usual haters. He certainly lives rent free in some heads.
Click to expand...

Have you ever stopped to wonder why Misbah is despised so much?

Major once admitted that he supports Misbah more than the Pakistan team. At least he is honest about this. It's about time you have the cojones to follow suit rather than pretending to care about the best interests of Pakistan cricket because you clearly don't.

daytrader said:
When you start comparing everyone to Misbah ul Haq, that means the man was on to something.
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Oh really? From what I remember:
  • He choked in the 2007 WT20 final in the last over against a policeman
  • He choked again in the 2011 World Cup Semi-Final in Mohali
  • Drew against a minnow Zimbabwe test side in 2013
  • Under him, Pakistan had their worst ever showing in an ICC tournament during the 2013 CT. To put this into perspective, a less substandard captain like Sarfraz Ahmed bought the CT home in the next edition of this tournament, which was also held in England
  • He was by far the worst captain in tests played in Australia
  • Never scored an ODI hundred
But sure, he was on to something 🤡
 
khyberlion said:
This has to be a joke. Anyone who knows anything about cricket will know Yousuf was far far better than misbah.
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He would also rates Misbah over Inzi in ODIs and he rates 40/0 > 66/1 after the first 6 overs i.e. powerplay - in T20 cricket.

This is why I say medicore fans will always common ground with mediocrity.

Mamoon

Thread 'Would you pick Misbah-ul-Haq over Inzamam-ul-Haq in ODIs?'

Would you pick Misbah over Inzamam in ODIs?

[MENTION=135038]Major[/MENTION] is not willing to accept the fact that it is utter madness to say that Misbah was a better ODI batsman than Inzamam.

The gulf between the two is immense. Misbah is not worth of being mentioned in the same sentence as Inzamam.

Mamoon said:
As far as Inzamam vs Misbah is concerned, it is like comparing Umar Akmal to de Villiers. Misbah was a decent ODI batsman who did a very crucial job in a very fragile lineup but he is not worthy of lacing Inzamam’s boots. The gulf between the two is humongous.

You just can’t have an all-time...
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Ahmed216 said:
Can't believe what I just read
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Misbah was a mediocre player so it's comes to no surprise to find that his fans also struggle with their reading of the game.
It's a true reflection of their cricketing acumen.
 
Major said:
Misbah won a World T20 and a Test mace, so.....
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The reason why Pakistan won that WT20 because of Younis Khan's elite cricketing IQ. A prime example of this is how he set-up the leading run scorer in the tournament, Dilshan, during that first over in the final. Thank God he hid Misbah down the order, otherwise I'm certain it would've been a repeat of the 2007 WT20.
 
topspin said:
The reason why Pakistan won that WT20 because of Younis Khan's elite cricketing IQ. A prime example of this is how he set-up the leading run scorer in the tournament, Dilshan, during that first over in the final. Thank God he hid Misbah down the order, otherwise I'm certain it would've been a repeat of the 2007 WT20.
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too bad Yousuf couldnt win any icc tournament.
 
Guys this thread is not to discuss Misbah so better stick to the topic or bump the relevant thread
 
Yousuf had a lazy elegance to his batting. The shots he played looked so effortless. Truly one of the greatest batsmen Pakistan ever produced. 2006 will go down as one of the great years that any batter has ever had in test cricket.
 
Hawkeye said:
All started by a mod.

Amazing.

Anyways, both are legends of Pakistan cricket.

One won us countless things and made us number 1 ranked Test team, highest average as a captain and highest average in ICC tournaments. Definition of leading from the front like Imran Khan in cricket.

Other was a very pleasing to the eye solid batsman with highest runs in a calendar year. Very good technique.
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Agree with this, could had been a simple thread about Yousuf. But than he bought in Misbah to start an argument...
 
topspin said:
The reason why Pakistan won that WT20 because of Younis Khan's elite cricketing IQ. A prime example of this is how he set-up the leading run scorer in the tournament, Dilshan, during that first over in the final. Thank God he hid Misbah down the order, otherwise I'm certain it would've been a repeat of the 2007 WT20.
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Misbah was a passenger during the T20 World Cup win. Did nothing in the tournament. The guys who contributed:

-YK captaincy
-Afridi Semis+Final MOTM
-Razzaq massive energy boost entry
-Umar Gul phenomenal Oval spell
-Amir big wicket of Dilshan at Lords
-Kamran Akmal switching on for the big stage (Semis and Final).
 
Pakpak said:
Yousaf's performances in ICC tourneys however were dire. Just like the modern generation. Nor did his innings ever let us to an away win in Australia or SA.
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This is very true. He has produced 2 clutch innings in ICC tournaments:

2004 CT: where he scored an unbeaten 81 to clutch Pakistan towards their first win against India in an ICC tournament
2009 CT: scored 87 off 88 balls to help Pakistan score 302. The men in green ended up winning this contest by 54 runs

Those 2 x innings are bigger than Misbah's career.
 
I was on a local domestic flight with Yousaf. The man has recognition and respect among the locals and is recognizable but obviously does not have Afridis, Shoaibs fan following. He will have 2-5 people saying hello, greeting him with an occasional handshake but he won't have an army of people asking for autographs
 
Rana said:
Misbah was a passenger during the T20 World Cup win. Did nothing in the tournament. The guys who contributed:

-YK captaincy
-Afridi Semis+Final MOTM
-Razzaq massive energy boost entry
-Umar Gul phenomenal Oval spell
-Amir big wicket of Dilshan at Lords
-Kamran Akmal switching on for the big stage (Semis and Final).
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Nailed it with the breakdown bro. This is what you cricketing acumen and at the same time it's a reflection of how memorable this tournament was for Pakistan cricket. Just goes to show Misbah fans will say anything to make their cult hero relevant. Pakistan won this in spite of Misbah not because of Misbah.
 

This is my favourite innings from Mohammad Yousuf and one of the best test hundreds I've seen in Australia.

So elegant and pleasing on the eye.
 
topspin said:
Nailed it with the breakdown bro. This is what you cricketing acumen and at the same time it's a reflection of how memorable this tournament was for Pakistan cricket. Just goes to show Misbah fans will say anything to make their cult hero relevant. Pakistan won this in spite of Misbah not because of Misbah.
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Misbah missed his big chance for eternal glory in the 2007wc

He played a good knock v Australia and was alright for most part of the tournament.

That was it really. Just regressed after that as a white ball batter. Proper dementor of Pakistan’s white ball batting.
 
Rana said:
Misbah missed his big chance for eternal glory in the 2007wc

He played a good knock v Australia and was alright for most part of the tournament.

That was it really. Just regressed after that as a white ball batter. Proper dementor of Pakistan’s white ball batting.
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This was a superb innings and he deserves full credit for that. Sadly his choke in the final defined his career. He should've given up white ball cricket after the horror show in Mohali and ended his test career after that embarrassing tour of Zimbabwe in 2013. Had he done this, he would've been respected by most Pakistan fans. It was after the 2013 CT is when he became an enemy of Pakistan cricket.
 
topspin said:

This is my favourite innings from Mohammad Yousuf and one of the best test hundreds I've seen in Australia.

So elegant and pleasing on the eye.
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Hell of an innings. I made a thread on this, I think it might be the GOAT overseas Test hundred by a Pak batter. They won’t ever play an innings like this against two legend bowlers of the Test arena.
 
Rana said:
Hell of an innings. I made a thread on this, I think it might be the GOAT overseas Test hundred by a Pak batter. They won’t ever play an innings like this against two legend bowlers of the Test arena.
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That's a good shout.

Those sixes he hit against Shane Warne on the biggest cricket ground on Earth made it a real spectacle. You have to have serious ability to play an innings like that against prime McGrath and Warne.

I think Inzi and Yousuf would have much a higher average if they were playing in Australia today.
 
topspin said:
This was a superb innings and he deserves full credit for that. Sadly his choke in the final defined his career. He should've given up white ball cricket after the horror show in Mohali and ended his test career after that embarrassing tour of Zimbabwe in 2013. Had he done this, he would've been respected by most Pakistan fans. It was after the 2013 CT is when he became an enemy of Pakistan cricket.
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I think a lot of people might just remember Amir for making headlines for that Dilshan wicket, but the guy did some massive things in the Semis too. That game against South Africa was basically the tournament, they were an excellent side.

18 year old Amir got the wicket of Greame Smith I believe. Back then T20 wasn’t being played the way it is now so these players (Smith and Kallis) were huge wickets because they were proper Test batters too as we know. They knew the drill. Apart from that, Amir defended 17 odd in the final over against JP Duminy. 18 year old Kid stepping up with that much guts and getting Pakistan over the line!
 
Rana said:
I think a lot of people might just remember Amir for making headlines for that Dilshan wicket, but the guy did some massive things in the Semis too. That game against South Africa was basically the tournament, they were an excellent side.

18 year old Amir got the wicket of Greame Smith I believe. Back then T20 wasn’t being played the way it is now so these players (Smith and Kallis) were huge wickets because they were proper Test batters too as we know. They knew the drill. Apart from that, Amir defended 17 odd in the final over against JP Duminy. 18 year old Kid stepping up with that much guts and getting Pakistan over the line!
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For me he was Pakistan's best bowler (and maybe player) in ICC tournaments. He bowled so well in the 2009 WT20, 2009 CT, 2017 CT and 2019 World cup.

I have no doubt in my mind, Pakistan would've won the 2011 World Cup, if we had him and Salman Butt playing in that tournament but it wasn't to be.
 
yousuf was an aesthetically sumptuous test batsman, however he had a mad purple patch which bumped his stats massively and made him look more productive than he actually was. however sport isnt all about numbers, his lazy elegance was a joy to watch, and he had a fair few solid contributions to pak test wins. his penchant to dwell on the half press made him an LBW candidate against in the inswinger early on, and his hands were never high enough to deal with proper pacey bounce. unfortunately, he wasn't the strongest mentally, got involved in silly politics, missed about 10 tests after the ICL debacle and crumbled when he had to captain.
 
Rana said:
I heard Yousuf speak on this a few years ago on some TV show

Yousuf was originally from Lahore and a very good/talented batter but he didn’t have the sifarish or links to break into the Lahore main team. They were not even looking at him.

He was recommended to go to Bahawalpur and try his luck with them. They gave him his big break and that’s when he started to rack up the runs

Something along these lines, it was Bahawalpur who let Yousuf into the FC scene, otherwise he was all set to just carry on working at some shop as a darzi or something.

This is why I feel that the many regions+departments thing isn’t the worst when it comes to Pakistan domestic cricket. A lot of these underprivileged players with no sifarish or backing might just get their chance in one of the lesser teams and break down the door for themselves.
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If I recall correctly,

Yousuf never really blamed those at Lahore who overlooked him because of his religion. He didn’t have to. However, it may have played a significant role into why he wasn’t a priority for them. They may have just viewed him as a second class citizen, and from what I understand with Lahore at least is that a lot of their top players will come from areas that hold the most leverage in club cricket as well. This is how Salman Butt, the Akmals (later Babar as well) and Wahab Riaz broke through, they were all quite close knit as a community of cricketers from the same cricket club (I’m not sure about this). Whoever held dominion back then, it was highly unlikely that they would have let a random Christian guy into their little power circle, and they would have preferred their own guy from that core group.


There has to be inside information on this. This is just me speculating btw.
 
One more thing that I would like to add with Yousuf. The guy is a class, class player…however as humble as his background and entry into cricket through fate and chance (rather than a simple method of merit), the guy later was pretty well known as a problematic figure once he had become an established mainstay batter for Pakistan. He definitely had a superiority complex and knew he was undroppable. Im talking about late 90s too in the Wasim Akram era.

This in itself is so ironic. The guy knew he is untouchable given his humble background and how he had to go through big hurdles to make his way through into the Pakistan team. When Inzimam became captain, I remember he kept all of these guys (Yousuf, Younis, Afridi, Akhtar) in check. As soon as he left, these guys became hard work.
 
Rana said:
If I recall correctly,

Yousuf never really blamed those at Lahore who overlooked him because of his religion. He didn’t have to. However, it may have played a significant role into why he wasn’t a priority for them. They may have just viewed him as a second class citizen, and from what I understand with Lahore at least is that a lot of their top players will come from areas that hold the most leverage in club cricket as well. This is how Salman Butt, the Akmals (later Babar as well) and Wahab Riaz broke through, they were all quite close knit as a community of cricketers from the same cricket club (I’m not sure about this). Whoever held dominion back then, it was highly unlikely that they would have let a random Christian guy into their little power circle, and they would have preferred their own guy from that core group.


There has to be inside information on this. This is just me speculating btw.
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Competition also would obviously have been higher in big citites because of established clubs.
 
khyberlion said:
Inzi won a world cup and misbah lost us couple all by himself. Yes we can see who was a bottler.

I can't believe we have people here who think misbah is better than inzi lol.
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So you are admitting it was Inzi who won the world cup and imran and akram had nothing to do with it right?

Or conversely if imran and akram where there in the 2010s pakistan would win nothing?

It's always hilarious that whenever comparisons happen people pretend one person wins games.
 
Rana said:
One more thing that I would like to add with Yousuf. The guy is a class, class player…however as humble as his background and entry into cricket through fate and chance (rather than a simple method of merit), the guy later was pretty well known as a problematic figure once he had become an established mainstay batter for Pakistan. He definitely had a superiority complex and knew he was undroppable. Im talking about late 90s too in the Wasim Akram era.

This in itself is so ironic. The guy knew he is untouchable given his humble background and how he had to go through big hurdles to make his way through into the Pakistan team. When Inzimam became captain, I remember he kept all of these guys (Yousuf, Younis, Afridi, Akhtar) in check. As soon as he left, these guys became hard work.
Click to expand...
Well said.
This was the reason for Yousufs downfall.

Yousuf could had easily carried on his career after he broke Laras record for most runs in a calender year.

But Yousuf developed an attitude of senior player and did not bother to show up for domestix games and was known for pulling out his name from the domestic team squads at the last minute.

The reason behind this were two. One is the culture that waseem and co. left. The untouchable seniors culture was introduced by wasim akram and the youngsters learned this.

Second, a common problem with cricketers from poor background is that, these guys have never enjoyed pleasures of life like eating meat or having an air conditioned room etc. So as soon as they earn good amounts of money, they tend to enjoy the luxurious of life where they become lazy.

This is why Yousuf was missing out on domestic games. He easily could had played in 2011, 2012 or uptill 2015.

Younis, Misbah and Akhtar, keeping asìde their issues, these guys still showed up for domestic cricket and their hardwork was the reason they were able to retire on their own terms.

Younis was playing at HBL and had groomed Shan Masood there. Misbah would play domestic cricket regularly and Akhtar during his last leg of cricket, would quitely do his training either at NCA or Islamabad, showed up for Rawalpindi region games and kept himself intact till the 2011 world cup.

Yousuf should had done that and would had played the 2015 world cup.

Yousufs comeback was rumoured in 2012 but he had a falling out with LCCA, or something happened behind the scenes. He was expected to return through t20 cricket
 
Yusuf was a beast of his time. Pretty under-rated but he is a perfect guy you need to have in the coaching setup and learn from. If he makes even 1% difference then I will be happy... Players need to take benefit from him
 
Major said:
Yes, you are right, no one cares about the main format of the game, for which Misbah won the test mace...........

Atleast reread what you write.

Like i said, when Yousuf is added to the PCB hall of fame, than we can talk. Right now he is not in the PCB hall of fame while Misbah is.
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topspin said:
He would also rates Misbah over Inzi in ODIs and he rates 40/0 > 66/1 after the first 6 overs i.e. powerplay - in T20 cricket.

This is why I say medicore fans will always common ground with mediocrity.

Mamoon

Thread 'Would you pick Misbah-ul-Haq over Inzamam-ul-Haq in ODIs?'

Would you pick Misbah over Inzamam in ODIs?

[MENTION=135038]Major[/MENTION] is not willing to accept the fact that it is utter madness to say that Misbah was a better ODI batsman than Inzamam.

The gulf between the two is immense. Misbah is not worth of being mentioned in the same sentence as Inzamam.

Mamoon said:
As far as Inzamam vs Misbah is concerned, it is like comparing Umar Akmal to de Villiers. Misbah was a decent ODI batsman who did a very crucial job in a very fragile lineup but he is not worthy of lacing Inzamam’s boots. The gulf between the two is humongous.

You just can’t have an all-time...
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Click to expand...
This is embarrassing to say the least. There has to be something very wrong with you to have this view.
 
Sachin fan said:
So you are admitting it was Inzi who won the world cup and imran and akram had nothing to do with it right?

Or conversely if imran and akram where there in the 2010s pakistan would win nothing?

It's always hilarious that whenever comparisons happen people pretend one person wins games.
Click to expand...
Maybe you don't know how cricket works. But inzi played a major role in us winning it.
 
Probably the most technically accomplished of all Pakistani batsmen from that era and should have batted at #3 in ODI's.

But ultimately choked like pretty much every other cricketer from that side when push came to shove.
 
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