Yousuf showered with gifts after run spree by CricketArchive staff reporter

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Player:	Mohammad Yousuf, Inzamam-ul-Haq
Event:	West Indies in Pakistan 2006/07

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DateLine: 3rd December 2006

 

Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf has been showered with cash and gifts worth 100,000 US dollars by his sponsors and President Pervez Musharraf after his record-breaking run spree against the West Indies. Devout Muslim Yousuf won two luxury cars from his sponsors for being the man-of-the-match in the third Test, in which he hit a century in each innings to help Pakistan win by 199 runs. He was also declared player of the series. Cricket fan Musharraf chipped in with a one-million-rupee (16,666-dollar) prize for breaking Viv Richards' 30-year record for the most Test runs scored in a year. The president - who is the chief patron of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and speaks of his love for cricket in his recent memoirs - personally telephoned the Pakistani batsman to offer his congratulations. Yousuf's 1,788 runs in 11 Tests this year beat the previous record of 1,710 runs set by the West Indies great Richards in 1976. Meanwhile the PCB and the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) each presented Yousuf with gold medals while KCCA president Mohammad Ali Shah gave 5,000 rupees for the each of 30 boundaries he hit in the Karachi Test. Yousuf put his success down to his religious faith. "It is my firm belief that whatever you get, runs or any other thing, it comes because of Allah's will," said Yousuf, who also equaled Australian great Don Bradman's record of six centuries in successive Tests - although it took him only five matches compared with Bradman's six. Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq said Yousuf deserved all the accolades. "His form was phenomenal in the series. The credit of the series win goes to the team but Yousuf has a lion's share in it. He batted like a champion and supplemented Pakistan's batting admirably," said Inzamam. West Indian captain Brian Lara, who before the Karachi Test had pledged he would come down hard on Yousuf to stop him from snatching Richards' record, said the Pakistani was the difference between the two sides in the series. "It was a great achievement and especially disappointing for us that Yousuf made those 600 plus runs against us. You need to be in great form to hit nine hundreds in a year," said Lara.