Let me first say that I am one of his biggest fans, and believe that he is still one of the most stylish and elegent batsmen in world cricket today. However, the way he has been performing recently, or should I say, getting himself out, has just been mind boggling. The way he gets out sometimes, one can’t help but get the feeling that he is playing with an “I don’t care, my place in the team is guranteed” attitude. A player of his caliber should be able to win matches for his team every now and then, but these days it is hard to remember the last time he won a match for Pakistan.
Osman Samiudding has an article on cricinfo today and I completely agree with the following:
"Quantifying how many matches he has won, or even just played a role in, when it has been needed, is loaded with risk but consider some facts. Like his game, his career figures make for stylish reading. An average of nearly 48, over 4000 runs, thirteen centuries (including eight outside Pakistan). But, also like his game, scratch a little deeper and there remains little substance.
Only one century out of 13 has been made in the second innings (the same number that has now been made by Butt in seven Tests), and that too, a nonsensical, inconsequential one against India at Multan, which `helped’ Pakistan to reduce a degree of humiliation in their defeat. Four of his hundreds have helped Pakistan win a Test, a statistic that shouldn’t readily lead to judgement until you remember that all of them were against the mightiest of mighty attacks in world cricket - namely those belonging to Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and West Indies. Against the traditionally stronger attacks of India, Australia, South Africa, England and Sri Lanka, he averages 32.61 in 37 Tests.
Forget figures, just rely on memory. When was the last time Yousuf made a decisive contribution to any Pakistan match? Even lower the bar: when was the last time he made even a significant contribution to a Pakistan match? His century at Melbourne last year or his 80-odd against India in the Champions Trophy; and then? You may have to go back to 2000 - against a still strong West Indies attack and England to find anything vaguely worth a mention. Five years of gorging on poor attacks is an awfully long time in international cricket and give that this was his 60th Test, it is logical to ask now how he has managed it. " Source
I really hope that he realizes his importance to the Pakistan batting line up, otherwise, no matter how elegent or stylish one’s batting syle might be, if he’s not making a significant contribution to the team, there’s plenty of other talent available.
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