Test no. 1818

Mohammad Yousuf has smashed one of the most spectacular individual records in Test cricket. He has scored more than 1710 runs in a calendar year--a record which was set by the mighty Viv Richards in 1976.

He has rewritten the history books on these matters as well:

• Only the third person in history to hit five centuries in five Tests. (The other two: J. Kallis and Sir Donald Bradman.)
• Most centuries in a year: eight, on track for a ninth! [He gets it and in doing so becomes the sixth Pakistani to score two hundreds in a Test.]
• Most runs in a three-match series by a Pakistani.

2006 will be known as The Year of Yousuf.

Think about this: Yousuf scored nine centuries in a year, scored more runs than anyone else and finished with an average of... 99.33. The Don had a better average over his entire career. That gives you some measure of that immense man.

Comments

[Tambi Dude]

2006 is not the year of Mohd Yusuf, it is a year
of batting_joke. I have always maintained that bowling standard of cricket has gone down this decade alarmingly. Look at the run feast by everyone. Having a batting avg of 50+ is now
more common than ever before. Scoring 100s is
now more common than ever before.
When all batting records are erased in a matter
of few years, either we are lucky to witness
so many outstanding players in an era, or there
is something terribly wrong with the game.

I have huge problems with the batting records
of Dravid, SHewag, Ponting, Lara (recent years),
Langer, Hayden, Inzi, Mohd Yusuf. Tendulkar is
the only batsman in my book to qualify for the
tag of a great batsman.

[Sid]

Sadly, Tendulkar's not performing as a man of his class should. My guess is he'll retire in a year or two.

[Isaac Schrödinger]

Tendulkar is, no doubt, a great batsman. Today, Lara and Ponting are the only two who can be compared to him.

Tendulkar hasn't performed well under pressure. The best example of this is the 2003 World Cup. No-one has scored more runs in a World Cup tournament than Tendulkar. Yet, he was out for single-digit score in the final.

Lara is too inconsistent. He can be out for a sad duck one day and then score a magnificent double-century next week.

Ponting is the "most complete" batsman of the era. He smashed a 140 in the last World Cup final. He has performed in all conditions and presently he is doing his best to ground the Brits into dust.

[Sid]

By the way, Isaac, are you aware that Yousuf attributes his success to his recent conversion to Islam?

[Isaac Schrödinger]

Sid: Yes.

[M. Ram]

His conversion to Islam: like selling his soul to the devil. I heard he was a good criket player even as a Christian, so I'm sorry. I just can't help but think it's like selling his soul to the devil.