The anxiety was justified as Yousuf is the batting mainstay with Inzamam-ul-Haq having retired. Losing the most senior batsman in the side for the crucial tour was unthinkable.
The middle-order batsman cleared the fitness test, though there was a hint of desperation behind the move. Personally too, Yousuf needed a good series to feel confident after a relatively quite series against South Africa at home, in which a hundred in the one-dayer was the sole moment of delight for him.
But it is quite tough to keep a batsman of the calibre of Yousuf silent for long, as the Indians found out in the one-day series. The Lahore player started the trip with a fine half-century in Guwahati, but the knock failed to carry his team past the winning post.
In Kanpur, he stacked up a brilliant unbeaten 99 in the third one-dayer, but once again the team did not register a win. That knock attracted flak from many quarters as several former Pakistani players criticised him being selfish.
Yousuf finally erased the jinx in Jaipur. He notched up a fine half-century to lift Pakistan to a formidable total and ultimately a consolation win. Not surprisingly, Yousuf emerged the top run-getter in the series with 283 runs from five matches at an impressive average of 94.33.
Not for nothing that rival skipper Anil Kumble sounded wary of the Yousuf threat. "He is a great player. I don't want to single him out, but he is their most prolific scorer in recent years. We'd like to take every batsman seriously and deliver as a bowling unit. But we will have to tackle Yousuf," Kumble said.
The Banglorean's eagerness to prevent Yousuf from scoring is understandable as the latter boasts a fine record against India in the longer version. Yousuf has amassed 1118 runs from 12 Tests at 53.23 against the arch-rivals, with four hundreds and six half-centuries.
Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik too hoped that his number one batsman will come good in the series, along with his deputy Younis Khan. "Yousuf is the pillar of our batting and his performance is crucial for our fortunes in this series. His partnership with Younis and me in the middle overs will be vital," he said.
