Early Life
Yousuf was born in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan to a low caste Hindu Balmiki family who later converted to Christianity. His father Youhana Maseeh worked at the railway station, the family lived in the nearby Railway Colony. As a boy, he couldn't afford a bat and so swatted his brother's taped tennis ball offerings with wooden planks of various dimensions on surfaces masquerading as roads. As a 12-year-old, he was spotted by the Golden Gymkhana, though even then only circumstances dictated his ambitions and never thought of playing cricket, to make a living. He joined Lahore's Forman Christian College and continued playing until suddenly giving up in early 1994. For a time he tried his luck driving rickshaws in Bahawalpur.
Yousuf, hailing from poor background, was plucked from the obscurity of a tailor's shop in the slums of the eastern city of Lahore to play a local match in the 1990s. His well-crafted shots attracted attention and he rose through the ranks to become one of Pakistan's best batsman. He was set to work at a tailor's when he was pulled back by a local club was short of players. They called him to make up numbers and made a hundred which led to a season in the Bradford Cricket League, with Bowling Old Lane, and a path back into the game.
Read more about this topic: Mohammad Yousuf (cricketer)
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