Yousuf, often the unsung hero
Pakistan have won the Asia Cup twice and on both occasions when it was hosted in Bangladesh. The first of these winning moments came in the seventh edition of the tournament in 2000.
Pakistan won all three matches including the final against Sri Lanka. The star of the tournament was Mohammad Yousuf
(formerly Yousuf Youhana before he converted to Islam). Yousuf struck a huge century in the team’s second match against India, which Pakistan would comfortably win by 44 runs.
He continued from where he left off and struck 90 to ensure his team defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets to reach the final. In the final, he would only score 25 as opener Saeed Anwar (82) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (72) top-scored in a challenging Pakistan total of 271 for four. Sri Lanka fell short by 39 runs to gift Pakistan the Trophy, which they would win again more than a decade later in 2012.
Yousuf, who excelled in all formats of the sport, was deservedly declared the Player of the Tournament. A batsman whose greatness was often largely overlooked, was the recipient of 13 ODI Player of the Series awards including one at Sharjah in 2002 in the Sharjah Cup. Yousuf retired from international cricket in 2010 following an indefinite ban imposed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in the aftermath of the team’s winless tour of Australia.