New Delhi: Mohammad Yousuf had been one of the main stays of the Pakistani batting for more than decade and it will go down as a very sad moment in the history of cricket, especially Pakistan cricket that a player of such stature was ignored to such an extent that it had forced him to call it a day. While it is yet to sink in that the world has seen the last of Mohammad Yousuf who along with Inzamam-ul-Haq had made a mockery of the Indian bowling in more than one occasion in the past.

Mohammad Yousuf will go down in the history as one of the best players Pakistan, a country which has a knack of producing great fast bowler, has produced. Yousuf has scored 7530 runs at an average of 52 in 90 Tests and also accumulated 9720 runs in 288 One-day Internationals, enough to make an impression in the world of cricket.

There was a stage when Yousuf was more of a pain in the rear for all the fans in India as invariably Pakistan would be three down and Yousuf would come in to bat. He along with Inzamam would get Pakistan back in the match and before even anybody can know he would be nearing his century. There have been numerous times when India were at the receiving end and was a class act in the middle-order.

Yousuf's biggest asset was that he made batting look very easy with his classy cover-drives and relied a lot on timing. He had shots all around the wicket and can play pace with the same kind of confidence as spin. Yousuf was never afraid to use his feet against spinners and that made him one of the dangerous players of spin bowling.

Yousuf's retirement came at a time when the Pakistan team is struggling with its batting with no real batting sensation coming up the ranks and the team is struggling to get its act together. Yousuf's experience in the middle order would have been more than valuable and could have played the role of a batting mentor.

The sub-continent has a culture of not treating their seniors in the right manner and this is one such example where a guy deserved a lot more than what he got at the end of the day. The least the Pakistan Board could have done is to arrange a good farewell for such a great player who has served his nation for more than a decade.