Mohammed Yousuf

Multan: Prolific Pakistan batsman Mohammed Yousuf expressed surprise at his recent run of impressive scores against South Africa as he had been away from the game a long time.

Yousuf didn’t make the World Twenty20 cut and returned to the side only for the second Test against South Africa in Lahore.

He made 25 and 63 not out in that match, followed by scores of 53, 117 and 58 not out in the first three ODIs. Yousuf’s knocks helped Pakistan take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

“I never expected this type of success on my comeback because I was not able to train properly for this series after being out of action for two months,” Yousuf said.

“I was away with a religious congregation to the northern areas for 40 days. Even I didn’t expect this sort of success immediately on return.”

Yousuf won the ICC Test Player of the Year (2006) for his record-breaking tally of 1,788 in 11 matches with nine hundreds during the period.

“I now accept success and failure as fate. I don’t worry about it. Being closer to religion has given me the mental strength to deal with pressure,” he added.

But Yousuf made it clear that when on the field, his focus was completely on the game.