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There is an extravagant flourish in his strokes, a seeming effortlessness, graceful footwork, exquisite timing and an exaggerated high backlift reminiscent of Zaheer Abbas. Yousuf Youhana is the highest star on Pakistan's cricket horizon and has established himself as one of the most exciting batsmen in contemporary cricket.
Born on August 27, 1974, Youhana has proved his mettle in both genres of the game. In the abridged version, the youngster has the eye and reflexes to maintain a brisk run-rate. Making his intentions clear at the very outset, Youhana shows a ready willingness to dance down the wicket to the flighted hall and loft it high and straight over the are between mid-off and mid-on. The fast men of the game also fare no better against his onslaught.
In Test cricket, Youhana displays his versatility by executing superb ground shots that unerringly bisect the fielders. His elegance and range of shots make comparisons with the great Zaheer Abbas inevitable. Youhana has blended his command over ground and aerial shots into one consistent technique which serves him equally well in both forms of cricket. His earlier failures were due to 'soft' dismissals, a careless defensive push to lob a catch, a sudden lapse in concentration, or just a failure of temperament.
But all of this was before the advent of coach Javed Miandad. The latter has spent long hours teaching Youhana the simple tricks to overcome his flaws. To many observers, however, he appears obsessed with style and this proves to be his undoing on many occasions.
Still, not many middle-order batsmen can boast a strike-rate of 67.69 per cent in one-dayers, and should he overcome his impetuosity, his Test batting average would be much higher than the current 40.37 per innings.
Miandad's hard work was visible during Pakistan's last tour of the Caribbean, where Youhana made two back-to-back Test hundreds and this form continued to serve him well during the Asia Cup held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he was named the Man of the Tournament, and also against England at home. Ravi Shastri chose to describe him as a "street smart cricketer", a tribute that would have greatly pleased Miandad.
Youhana starts off by rotating the strike, stealing ones and twos by nudging the ball past the close-in fielders. So good is his initial tempo that one barely notices the first unruffled 20-odd runs. Once he has a measure of the wicket and the bowling, he shifts gear and starts looking for boundaries by placing the ball through the gaps. Once his innings has gained momentum, he shifts up another notch to really cut loose and send the ball flying to all parts of the ground. From what we have seen of him so far, once can safely state that Youhana's best form is yet to come. Still 26, Youhana is the batsman, to watch for in the next few years. Indeed, to some experts, he is in the same mould as Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Waugh.
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