Tried and Retired, but with a Comma!

Mohammed Yusuf is an extraordinary case to be studied in depth. No, not for budding Cricketers but for the students of Psychiatry. He is such a complex character; we have not seen one like him before and perhaps will never get to see one again!

Just look at this man. He was born in a Christian family in an Islamic Country. He was Christened Yusuf Yohana. The first name amply exposes the insecurities suffered by the minority Christians in Pakistan. But due to his talent and hard work and also due to lack of batting talent in a country that 'Manufactures' fast bowlers, he came up all the way to play for the Pakistan national team. Let us be fair, if the batting cupboard was not empty in Pakistan, Yohana would never have played for Pakistan. He must be the first ever Christian to play for Pakistan.

At one point of time, he went on to score the highest runs in a Calendar year, surpassing the legendary Vivian Richards in the process. He was scoring runs in tons all over the place. Pakistan fans were over the moon because they had a batsman who they believed was better than Rahul Dravid! Well, if you can't better Sachin, at least better Dravid! That was unfortunately not enough for the PCB. He had nurtured Captaincy ambitions all along and very often had worn his ambitions on his sleeve like the Nike logo!

So if religion was a hindrance to achieve his ambition, he was ready to dump the religion. Being irreligious myself, I found nothing wrong with this. If a girl or a boy can convert from one religion to another to get married, what is the problem in Yusuf Yohana converting to attain his goal? But a lot of people questioned his commitment.I don't want to dwell in those arguments, let us move on!

You have be more loyal than the King and Yusuf had to be more Islam than the Muslim. Hence he changed his appearance to look like Sayeed Anwar. More Muslim he became, more suspicious the Pakistan Cricket Bosses turned. They were ready to bestow Captaincy upon any Younis, Shoib and Khan, but not Mohammad Yusuf. Then came the unkindest cut of all, he was not selected for the shorter versions of Cricket! Branded 'Test Batsman' he had to hit back, but he knew not whom and where!

So he jumped into the ICL bandwagon along with many of his ilk like Abdul Razzack. Only two people had anything significant to lose by joining ICL; Yusuf and Razzack. Others were either retired Generals like Inzy Bhai or mere foot soldiers! So wisdom dawned upon him only after signing the contract with Subhash Chandra's breakaway league. But since the Pak Cricket needed him, he was bailed out by his establishment.

On his comeback, he expected to be trusted. But Younis Khan was not ready to trust him and neither the PCB. Here is one Captain who is ready to quit Captaincy, literally at the drop of a hat! But Pakistan Cricket Board  was ready to crawl before Younis than order Yusuf. And finally the momentous moment came in Mohammad Yusuf 's like. He was declared Captain of the Pakistan National Team for the twin tours of New Zealand and Australia. But this was done only after Younis Khan made himself unfit for these tours.

A miserable tour down under meant Yusuf was down in the dumps. The squabbles in the team and bizarre tactics when faced with a realistic chance of beating Aussies in Australia undermined Yusuf' s credibility. Any match Pakistan lose, the allegation of match-fixing is raised even before the post-match presentations are over and an inquiry commission will be appointed before the players reach the team hotel.

And now all the players have been 'Tried' for their dubious role in the debacle down under. Both the squabbling siblings, Yusuf and Younis have been banned for life. And in one of the most poignantly funny statement; Yusuf has declared, "I have Retired,,, for the time being,,," So this 'Retirement' actually means not a 'Full-stop' to his playing career, but just a 'Comma'. Retired with a Comma! Interesting indeed!

So what next? Come back with an 'Inverted Comma'? Let us wait with a Semi Colon!