Stats: Players who have scored a century in their 100th ODI

Mohammad Yousuf

Youhana was at his sublime best in the finals

Yousuf Youhana, as he was called back then, was elegance personified, making the willow meet the ball with a stylish swoosh of a backlift, and caressing it to the boundary in the most sophisticated of manners. While his Test exploits, especially towards the latter half of his career, rocketed him up in the company of Pakistan’s greatest ever, he was also an indispensable part of the ODI side in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

In his 100th ODI game, that came against Sri Lanka in the finals of the 2002 Sharjah Cup, Yousuf struck a delightful 129, supported ably by a young Younis Khan to help Pakistan post 295, and eventually win the game by a canter. Scoring at a healthy strike-rate of 98, Yousuf helped cushion the early loss of Shahid Afridi and Rashid Latif, who was surprisingly promoted up the order.

Yousuf’s last, and 288th ODI game, came against the South Africans in late 2010. A spat with his country’s cricket board ensured that he played no further.