The year 2006 will go down as a special year in Pakistan’s cricket history. New batting heights, previously considered unscalable, were suddenly surmounted. Their architect was Pakistan’s middle-order specialist Mohammad Yousuf.

Now sporting a dense beard, Yousuf had recently converted from Christianity to Islam and it brought into his game a newly acquired tranquility and serenity. Added to his innate grace with the willow, there was a new appetite for playing long innings and a Bradmanesque consistency that was described as surreal.

Yousuf’s year started with a three match series against the visiting Indian team. In the drawn first match at Lahore, Pakistan won the toss and batted first. By the end of the first day they had reached 325 runs for 2 wickets with Younis on 147 and Yousuf on 95. The next day Yousuf carried his score to 173, which included a partnership of 319 runs for the 3rd wicket with Younis. Yousuf’s unhurried style was deceptive, for his 173 runs took only 199 deliveries to compile and the knock was embellished with 22 fours and 2 sixes, so that a full 100 of his runs came in boundaries. The next Test at Faisalabad was also drawn. Yousuf scored 65 in the first innings and followed this up with 126 in the second, before he was run out. His 126 contained 11 fours and 4 sixes, accounting for 68 of his 126 runs. In each innings he shared a century partnership with Younis; 142 runs for the 3rd wicket in the first innings and 242 runs together for the 3rd wicket in the second innings.

The final Test at Karachi was easily won by Pakistan. In the first innings, Yousuf was dismissed without scoring by the first ball he faced as he became a victim of Irfan Pathan’s hat-trick. However, this was followed by 97 in the second innings, thus narrowly missing a century in three consecutive tests. He again partnered Younis for a 158 run stand for the 3rd wicket, making it the fourth century partnership between the two in this three test series. Yousuf’s series aggregate was 461 runs at an average of 92.20, with 2 centuries.

Sri Lanka were the next opponents. Yousuf missed the 1st Test at Colombo and though Pakistan won the 2nd test in Kandy by 8 wickets, Yousuf’s own performance was unremarkable with scores of 17 and 14 not out.

When Pakistan toured England in the summer Yousuf was at his silken best. He began with a double century in the first innings at Lords, rescuing Pakistan from a score 68 for 4 by making 202 off 330 balls with 26 fours and a six. His dismissal came about in a strange way when he offered no stroke to a ball from Panesar that pitched between middle and leg stumps. In the second innings Yousuf scored a quick fire 48 from just 62 deliveries, with 9 hits to the fence. The match petered out into a draw.

In the 2nd Test at Old Trafford Pakistan were overpowered by England and lost by an innings and 120 runs. Yousuf fell cheaply in both innings for 38 and 15 respectively. Monty Panesar was the successful bowler on both occasions. In the 3rd Test at Leeds, which England won by 167 runs, Yousuf was back to his imperious best. He scored 192 from 261 balls, with 25 fours and 2 sixes. His 3rd wicket partnership of 363 with Younis was the 5th highest partnership ever against England by any country. It was also the 3rd highest partnership for any wicket for Pakistan, and the highest partnership in a losing cause in the history of test cricket. In the second innings Yousuf was run out, in a mix-up with Younis, when he had scored only 8 runs and Pakistan were unable to save the match despite a first innings total of 538.

In the notorious 4th Test at the Oval, which Pakistan forfeited, Yousuf scored an elegant 128 in Pakistan’s only innings. Many of those who saw this innings either on the ground or on the screen, felt they had never seen a better exhibition of cutting. Yousuf scored 651 runs in the four test series with an average of 92.14, including three centuries. Wisden chose him as one of its five cricketers of the year and called his strokeplay “soothingly hypnotic.”

West Indies were touring Pakistan for a three Test series in the winter. They would provide the opposition for Yousuf’s piece de resistance.

The first Test was played at Lahore. Yousuf stroked his way to an effortless 192 from 330 balls with 24 fours and a solitary six, before being stumped while attempting a big hit off the underrated off-spin of Chris Gayle. His innings had lifted Pakistan from 140 for 4 to 485 all out, and included century partnerships with Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal. It laid the foundation for a comfortable 9 wicket win for Pakistan.

The next Test at Multan was drawn but Yousuf scored 56 runs in the first innings and produced a masterly knock of 191 off 344 balls in the second innings. This included century partnerships with Imran Farhat and Abdul Razzaq. This was his third score in the 190s in 2006, which was a new world batting record.

The final Test of the series was played at Karachi. Yousuf had by now scored 1562 runs with 7 centuries in 2006. All eyes were now on him to see if he could pass Viv Richards record tally of 1710 runs in a calendar year, a record that had stood intact for 30 years since 1976.

Pakistan batted first and Yousuf obliged his fans with an innings of 102. This was his fifth century in consecutive Tests and inched him closer to Richard’s record. It took only 158 balls and was inclusive of 15 fours. In Pakistan’s second innings Yousuf went one better. He scored 124, adding 149 for the 3rd wicket with Mohammad Hafeez. When a beautiful on-drive for four off Colleymore took him to 48, he crossed Richards tally of 1710 runs in a year and acknowledged it by raising his bat to the crowd. He was finally dismissed for 124 and his innings led Pakistan to a big win by 199 runs.

This was the first time that Yousuf had scored a century in each innings of a Test and it was his 6th century in five successive Test matches. It took his aggregate for the series to 665 runs at an average of 133.00. This tally included 4 centuries.

Yousuf’s figures for 2006 make stunning reading. In 11 Tests and 19 innings, he scored 1788 runs which beat Viv Richards tally of 1710 runs, and is a world record that stands till today. He scored 9 centuries in the year, which is also still a world record, ahead of the 7 each scored by Viv Richards in 1976, Aravinda de Silva in 1997 and Ricky Ponting in 2006. It included a solitary double century, but his three scores in the 190’s is also a record. His batting average for the year was tantalizingly close to a hundred at 99.33 runs per innings.

Another little known fact is that Yousuf’s tally included 222 fours which is also a world record for a calendar year, beating the figure of 215 fours each by Graeme Smith in 2008 and Virender Sehwag in 2010. Yousuf also hit 12 sixes in 2006, so that his total number of hits crossing the fence in the form of either fours or sixes, was 234, which is ahead of the figure of 225 by Sehwag in 2010 and 219 by Smith in 2008.

2006 was Yousuf’s halcyon year. He would never scale the same heights again but the impression that he left in the minds and visual memory of cricket lovers is unforgettable. A casual, unhurried, leisurely array of strokes all round the wicket. The ball caressed lovingly with minimal effort and gathering pace as it sped to the boundary. A high back-lift and follow through that essayed a picture for cricket purists, the sajda on the grass with each major landmark, dancing down the wicket occasionally for the aggressive lofted drive over mid-wicket or mid-on, are images that will be etched forever on the cricket aficionado’s psyche.

Thank you Yousuf for the memories of 2006.