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| December 01, 2006 | Friday | Ziqa'ad 9, 1427 |
Yousuf’s year of glory
KARACHI, Nov 30: Mohammad Yousuf’s phenomenal calendar year ended in the same way as it had started — with a century — as the prolific right-handed batsman amassed a world record 1788 runs in 11 Tests with no less than nine centuries, which itself is another unparalleled accomplishment.
Since converting from Christianity to Islam 14 months ago, Yousuf has turned himself into a remorseless run-machine, totalling a staggering 2130 runs from 24 innings in 14 Tests (averaging 92.60) starting from the England series in the last home season.
It is appropriate to glance at Yousuf’s remarkable deeds in the current year which for him and Pakistan has come to an end as far as Test cricket is concern.
His number of centuries (nine) bettered the previous calendar-year feat of seven, jointly held by Viv Richards (1976) and Aravinda de Silva (1997).
Yousuf’s coup de grace, however, has to be his magnificent achievement of shattering the Richards’s outstanding record of most runs in a calendar-year in the same number of matches and innings as the legendary West Indian achieved in 1976. Yousuf, in fact, improved upon Richards’ tally of runs by 78 runs.
Yousuf’s golden run with the bat decorated him with another significant landmark. His aggregate of 665 in the current series against the hapless West Indies is the third highest for a three-Test rubber behind Graham Gooch and Brian Lara.
In eight Tests against West Indies, Yousuf has now amassed 1214 runs at an average of 101.16 with as many as seven centuries.
Only Lara, currently with 1142 runs in 12 Tests against Pakistan, has the chance to become the highest run-getter in matches between these two teams if he scores another 73 on Friday in his final Test innings in this country.
The break-up of Yousuf’s golden run in 2006 is as under:
Against India: 173 at Lahore; 65 & 126 at Faisalabad; 0 & 97 at Karachi.
Against Sri Lanka: 17 & 14* at Kandy.
Against England: 202 & 48 at Lord’s; 38 & 15 at Old Trafford; 192 & 8 at Headingley; 128 at The Oval.
Against West Indies: 192 at Lahore; 56 & 191 at Multan; 102 & 124 at Karachi.
Total runs: 1788 in 19 innings of 11 Tests (average 99.33)
Viv Richards’s golden sequence in 1976 was as follows:
Against Australia: 44 & 2 at Sydney; 30 & 101 at Adelaide; 50 & 98 at Melbourne.
Against India: 142 at Bridgetown; 130 & 20 at Port-of-Spain; 177 & 23 at Port-of-Spain; 64 at Kingston.
Against England: 232 & 63 at Trent Bridge; 4 & 135 at Old Trafford; 66 & 38 at Headingley; 291 at The Oval.
Total runs: 1710 runs in 19 innings of 11 Tests (average 90.00).
Most runs in a calendar year (minimum aggregate 1300 runs)
Batsmen Year M I NO Runs HS Ave 100s
Mohammad Yousuf (Pak) 2006 11 19 1 1788 202 99.33 9
I.V.A. Richards (WI) 1976 11 19 0 1710 291 90.00 7
R.T. Ponting (Aus) 2005 15 28 5 1544 207 67.13 6
R.T. Ponting (Aus) 2003 11 18 3 1503 257 100.20 6
J.L. Langer (Aus) 2004 14 27 0 1481 215 54.85 5
M.P. Vaughan (Eng) 2002 14 26 2 1481 197 61.70 6
S.M. Gavaskar (Ind) 1979 17 26 0 1407 221 54.11 4
S.R. Tendulkar (Ind) 2002 16 26 1 1392 193 55.68 4
M.L. Hayden (Aus) 2001 14 25 3 1391 203 63.22 5
G.R. Viswanath (Ind) 1979 17 26 2 1388 179 57.83 5
R.B. Simpson (Aus) 1964 14 26 3 1381 311 60.04 3
M.L. Hayden (Aus) 2005 15 29 3 1380 138 53.07 5
D.L. Amiss (Eng) 1974 13 22 2 1379 262* 68.95 5
R. Dravid (India) 2002 16 26 3 1357 217 59.00 5
D.R. Martyn (Aus) 2004 14 26 2 1353 161 56.37 6
B.C. Lara (WI) 2003 10 19 1 1344 209 74.66 5
M.E. Trescothick (Eng) 2005 13 24 0 1323 194 55.12 4
M.L. Hayden (Aus) 2003 12 21 4 1312 380 77.17 5
S.M. Gavaskar (Ind) 1983 18 32 4 1310 236* 46.78 5
Most runs in a three-Test series (minimum aggregate 500 runs)
752 G.A. Gooch Eng v Ind 1990
688 B.C. Lara WI v SL 2001-02
665 Mohammad Yousuf Pak v WI 2006-07
583 Zaheer Abbas Pakv Ind 1978-79
558 S.M. Nurse WI v NZ 1968-69
557 Saleem Malik Pak v Aus 1994-95
553 Younis Khan Pak v Ind 2005-06
549 M.L. Hayden Aus v Ind 2000-01
544 V. Sehwag Ind v Pak 2004-05
520 J.C. Adams WI v Ind 1994-95
515 R.T. Ponting Aus v SA 2005-06
513 A.H. Jones NZ v SL 1990-91
513 M.A. Taylor Aus v Pak 1998-99
508 Younis Khan Pak v Ind 2004-05
507 Shoaib Mohammad Pak v NZ 1990-91
504 Javed Miandad Pak v NZ 1976-77
503 V.V.S. Laxman Ind v Aus 2000-01
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