Yousuf Rahman

Yousuf Rahman (more commonly known as Yousuf Babu) was a Bangladeshi cricketer, who played regularly for the national side from 1976-77 until his retirement in 1983-84. He top scored with 78 against the MCC at Dhaka in January 1977. He also holds the distinction of being the first Bangladeshi to score an international hundred, with 115 against PNG in 1982. In the early part of his career, he used to bat in the middle order, but from 1979-80 season onwards he was a regular opener. He was also a useful medium pacer.

In 7–9 January 1977, Bangladesh played against the MCC at Dhaka. After winning the toss, the home side captain Shamim Kabir decided to bat first. Yet, midway through the day, Bangladesh were struggling at 145/6. Only the skipper with 30, and the ever-reliable Omar Khaled Rumy with 28 showed any resistance. Coming on to bat at no 8, Yousuf Babu changed the course of the innings. After sharing a partnership with Faruk (35), he got the tail to support him, and they took the score to 266/9 (Decl). His 78 was the highest score of the match for either side.

He was always successful in international matches at Dhaka. A year later, against a very strong Lankan bowling attack, he scored 37 & 41*. Most of the other batsman around him collapsed against the varied attack of the Lankans. In February 1978, he scored 30 against the visiting Decan Blues side. In 1980-81, he scored a half-century against the MCC at Dhaka. During January 1984, he was consistently among the runs against the relatively weaker oppositions in the South East Asian Cricket Cup. His highest 69* came against HongKong. Quite appropriately, he retired from international cricket at Dhaka after playing against the Hyderabad Blues side in the 1983-84 season. And he finished with a bang, scoring 35 and 44.

He had a disappointing ICC Trophy in 1979, scoring just 30 runs in 3 innings, and failing to take any wicket. He, however, topped the batting averages of his side in 1982, thanks mainly to his hundred against PNG. His hundred came before lunch, and along with Nazeem Siraji (52) he gave the innings a solid beginning. Unfortunately, there was a late-order collapse and PNG won the match by 3 wickets. Overall, he finished with 214 runs at an average of 35.66. In the low-scoring game against East Africa, he became the unlikely hero with the ball taking 3/16.

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