Run-machine Yousuf up to second spot in LG ICC Player Rankings

[Bond_shane_bond]

Run-machine Yousuf up to second spot in LG ICC Player Rankings


Pakistan's Mohammed Yousuf has climbed to second place in the LG ICC
Rankings for Test batsmen after his memorable innings of 192 against the West Indies at Lahore this week.

Yousuf now has the highest number of ratings points of any Pakistani batsman in history, breaking the 900 barrier for the first time and surpassing Javed Miandad's highest ranking of 885, achieved in February 1989.

He is only the twentieth player in history to top 900 rating points, an indication not only of his quality but also of his current amazing run of form.

Yousuf is the leading run-scorer in the calendar year with 1315 runs from only nine matches. That haul includes six hundreds, one of them the 202 he made against England at Lord's in July.

The elegant right-hander has overtaken India captain Rahul Dravid in the LG ICC Player Rankings and only Australia's Ricky Ponting is now above him. Team-mate Younis Khan remains in fourth place in the listing.

Another big mover following the Lahore Test is Brian Lara, who scored 61 and 122, the first times he has passed 50 in a Test on Pakistan soil.

Those two contributions have lifted the West Indies captain up five places to number eight in LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.

Yousuf's rise is good news for Pakistan but not so good is the slide of captain Inzamam-ul-Haq. He dropped five places to 12th in the batting ladder after collecting a duck at the Gaddafi Stadium.

i just saw a thread on this guy i was really shocked...is he better or what..like how did he got that 2nd place...i just totally read the whole thread...everyone was like against him..someone said he is weak against flat track some said he scores against weak teams..whats the whole scenario...can please someone define it

[silentstriker]

No one is 'against' him, people agree he is a good batsman and he is having an amazing run of form. People are just skeptical of his #2 in the world rating, and are waiting for him to play on some green tops or bouncy wickets before they agree with it.

[PhoenixFire]

Originally Posted by silentstriker

No one is 'against' him, people agree he is a good batsman and he is having an amazing run of form. People are just skeptical of his #2 in the world rating, and are waiting for him to play on some green tops or bouncy wickets before they agree with it.

I'm sure that you're aware that it takes into consideration the the amount of runs scored in the match and so on. The rankings do never lie imo.

[silentstriker]

Originally Posted by PhoenixFire

I'm sure that you're aware that it takes into consideration the the amount of runs scored in the match and so on. The rankings do never lie imo.

Didn't I say that he is having an amazing run of form?

[PhoenixFire]

Oh yes I know that. I was just responding to the people who said he is a flat-track bully, the people who you implied in your post.

[Tomm NCCC]

Well done Mr Yousef. An Average over 60? I reckon he can

[adharcric]

Originally Posted by PhoenixFire

Oh yes I know that. I was just responding to the people who said he is a flat-track bully, the people who you implied in your post.

What's your point? The rankings don't make his record in certain places turn from poor to impressive all of a sudden.

[Perm]

He's in very good form, I couldn't agree more. But until he proves himself against Australia and South Africa he can't be considering as a great batsman, only a good one. He has plenty of time to correct these poor records and I expect him to do it.

[Slifer]

Originally Posted by silentstriker

No one is 'against' him, people agree he is a good batsman and he is having an amazing run of form. People are just skeptical of his #2 in the world rating, and are waiting for him to play on some green tops or bouncy wickets before they agree with it.

I think those people will have to wait a really long time. There arent that many greentops around and even fewer fastmen to expose those conditions.

[shortpitched713]

Originally Posted by Slifer

I think those people will have to wait a really long time. There arent that many greentops around and even fewer fastmen to expose those conditions.

In that case, Ponting should never have been classified as a great batsman. He's only scored big in the more recent era of flat pitches and poor bowling attacks, unlike Lara and Tendulkar who scored when when things were more difficult for batsmen. Ponting was able to overcome that by scoring a mountain of runs. If Yousef can do the same, and score runs against all teams in most conditions, then I'd say you'd have to classify him as a great in this era where batsmen have less opportunity to prove their mettle in truly difficult circumstances. After all, Ponting is yet to score big against India in India, and I doubt he'll get the opportunity to do so on a really challenging turning surface.

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Originally Posted by PhoenixFire

I'm sure that you're aware that it takes into consideration the the amount of runs scored in the match and so on. The rankings do never lie imo.

If you score enough runs, it doesn't matter how flat the wickets are, you will still end up high in the rankings. Yousuf is in undeniable form, in terms of rankings.

Rankings lie constantly because people consider them a judge of quality of a player, rather than form. Yousuf is an excellent batsman though.

[PhoenixFire]

Originally Posted by Mr Mxyzptlk

If you score enough runs, it doesn't matter how flat the wickets are, you will still end up high in the rankings. Yousuf is in undeniable form, in terms of rankings.

Rankings lie constantly because people consider them a judge of quality of a player, rather than form. Yousuf is an excellent batsman though.

Not always. Younis Khan scored 553 runs in 3 matches, and only went up 2 places in the rankings.

[FaaipDeOiad]

Pointless example. If he kept that scoring rate up for 10 or 15 matches he would go up a long way.

Anyway, the rankings are about form, not about the overall quality of a player, and that's all there is to it really. I like them and I think they are interesting and a very good form guide. One can refer to them at any given time to see the way players have been performing in the recent past and how they match up against other comparable players in world cricket, but you can't look at them and judge a player's overall ability on his current ranking. Steve Harmison was once ranked the #1 bowler in the world - does one seriously consider him better than McGrath, Murali etc? Was he even a better bowler at that time? It was merely a run of form.

Yousuf is a fine batsman but he is not a great batsman, at least not yet. His problem is not that he hasn't scored runs on "greentops", which are extremely rare in international cricket anyway, it's that his record against certain teams and on bouncy wickets in general is quite average. He's certainly a better batsman than he used to be though, and I'm sure he will improve that somewhat.

Over the last few years he's probably the most feared batsman in world cricket after Ponting, Dravid, Lara and Kallis. Perhaps alongside Hayden and Inzamam. Certainly nothing to be laughed at, and his record in 2006 is stellar. However, when compared overall to batsmen like the others listed above, he's got some work to do.

[dass]

Originally Posted by silentstriker

No one is 'against' him, people agree he is a good batsman and he is having an amazing run of form. People are just skeptical of his #2 in the world rating, and are waiting for him to play on some green tops or bouncy wickets before they agree with it.

he is better then your tendulkar

[Fusion]

Originally Posted by dass

he is better then your tendulkar

Excellent argument. I'm impressed by his debating skills. SS, please try to recruit him for the roundtable you're thinking of forming.