Legendary Mohammad Yousuf calls it a day

Second most runs in Tests and third in ODIs for Pakistan, most Test runs in a calendar year, most Test hundreds in a year, an outstanding average of 52.29, 24 centuries and four double-centuries in Tests. This is none other than Mohammad Yousuf, who has finally bidden adieu to the cricket world. He says he will now focus on coaching.

[caption id="attachment_1032" align="alignright" width="300"] A crucial chapter of Pakistan’s cricket history has been closed with the end of Yousuf’s career (Photo: AP)[/caption]

Starting his career in 1998 as Yousuf Yohanna, he was capped 90 times in Tests for Pakistan and scored the third highest runs (7530) for his country in the longest format of the game. After gaining a respectable position in the national team, Yousuf converted to Islam in 2005 and it worked miracles for him.

In 2006, he performed so brilliantly that no other player had come close to it for decades. He scored 1788 runs in 11 Tests at 99.33, breaking the 30-year-old record of the great Sir Vivian Richards. He also scored nine Test hundreds which is the most by any player in a calendar year. The ICC gave Yousuf the Test Player of the Year award for the performance and Wisden included him in the top five players of the year. Pakistani government awarded him with Pride of Performance in 2011.

Yousuf, 38, was unfortunate to miss the milestones of making 10,000 ODI runs and playing 300 matches by very narrow margins. He scored 9,720 runs in the one-day format and represented Pakistan in 288 ODIs. He scored 15 ODI hundreds and is the second Pakistani batsman after Saeed Anwar to score most centuries. With 64 fifties under his belt, he also scored most number of ODI half-centuries after Inzamam-ul-Haq.

His career reached its nadir after the 2009-10 tour of Australia, and later conflict with the Pakistan cricket Board (PCB), lifetime ban and involvement in the Indian Cricket League.

Yousuf’s retirement is the end of an era, because there has been a dearth of players having such elegance and style.

We gave a detailed description of Yousuf’s career on his last birthday. Read and enjoy the complete story in Urdu ... here.

Players scoring most runs in a calendar year

Name	Country	Year	Matches	Innings	Runs	Best score	Average	100s	50s	4s	6s
Mohammad Yousuf		2006	11	19	1788	202	99.33	9	3	222	12
Vivian Richards		1976	11	19	1710	291	90.00	7	5	179+	7
Graeme Smith		2008	15	25	1656	232	72.00	6	6	215	4
Sachin Tendulkar		2010	14	23	1562	214	78.10	7	5	181	10
Ricky Ponting		2005	15	28	1544	207	67.13	6	6	178	11
Ricky Ponting		2003	11	18	1503	257	100.20	6	4	180	7
Michael Vaughan		2002	14	26	1481	197	61.70	6	2	186	11
Justin Langer		2004	14	27	1481	215	54.85	5	4	172	10
Virender Sehwag		2008	14	27	1462	319	56.23	3	6	181	22
Virender Sehwag		2010	14	25	1422	173	61.82	5	8	215	10