Yousuf comes of age

I've been waiting until the England v Pakistan match finishes until blogging about the game and the performances within it.

I shall be honest. I have always regarded Yousuf Youhana to be one of those batsmen whose statistics flatter him, who would make runs only in easy circumstances.

But Mohammad Yousuf, who converted to Muslim earlier this year, has been a vital part of Pakistan's batting line up. He has made runs in tough situations, albeit on very flat wickets, but it is an improvement. I did not witness his 202 and 48 at Lord's, so I will quote from Kamran Abbasi's article on Yousuf's new steel from cricinfo:

His double-hundred was one of the best innings ever by a Pakistani in Tests, a complete contrast to Mohsin Khan's dashing, excitable, sometimes reckless, double-hundred twenty-four years earlier on this same ground. Yousuf was composed, almost flawless, and wonderfully graceful. Beneath MoYo's short-sleeve jumper and short-tangled beard it was a struggle to find YoYo, a gifter of his wicket and betrayer of his graceful talent.

Yousuf's critics label him a flat-track bully. While the wicket was placid here, the situation was one of high pressure, pressure enough to dismiss forever any barbs about him being an easy rider. Pressure enough, too, to conclude that only a player of immense inner calm could play an innings of such exquisite serenity.

Lovely words to describe one of the most talented batsmen in the world, and certainly one that I enjoy watching very much.