Domestic help?s son today a pillar of Pak batting

Youhana's is one of those fascinating stories, the proverbial rags to riches tale. His being a Catholic, only adds to the saga, writes Kadambari Murali.

This story begins in a little one-room shack in an Old Lahore bylane that no one outside the area quite knows how to find. There's a frayed curtain hanging in front of the tin door and a number of curious children excitedly straggle behind as the car stops by. Alice and Youhana (once a domestic help in a railway quarter) lived here for years and all their children were born there. One daughter (now deceased) and five sons.

Ershad, Ajmal, Jameel, Tariq and Yousuf.

Ershad, the eldest, still lives close by. He once used to sweep the railway platform, he now cleans the Railway rest house. Ajmal and Jameel both drive rickshaws for a living. Tariq lives with and manages the affairs of their youngest sibling, who is now the vice-captain of Pakistan.

Yousuf's is one of those fascinating stories, the proverbial rags to riches tale. His being a devout Catholic in this Islamic country, only adds to an already enthralling saga. One of the most interesting moments in the just-finished Test at Multan was when Yousuf completed his century in the second innings, the only man standing in Camp Pakistan after a near faultless performance by India. He looked up and made the sign of the cross.

Most people in Pakistan would tell you that the Christians are probably the poorest community in the country. Yousuf grew up playing cricket in Bail Hatha, a Christian-dominated area near Garish Shaho, a lower income settlement in the Old Lahore area behind the Railway Station.

"Every Sunday, we would all go to the church behind the railway headquarters," says Ershad, excited at the prospect of talking about his star sibling. "I don't know if Yousuf is able to go on match days but he's otherwise very regular about the church. Most Catholics are."

Only Ershad, his wife and their eldest son Sunny live in the outhouse separated from the rest-house by a sheet of corrugated iron. A faded white T-shirt with a Pepsi logo hangs on the clothesline. It was once Yousuf's. His nephew, an aspiring cricketer, now wears it.

Ershad has other children, who live with Yousuf, in his posh Cavalry Road residence, along with his parents and brother Tariq's family. He, Ajmal and Jameel haven't moved there. He says it's because they have work commitments.

Much later, he also adds that there's a difference now. "Yousuf always has time for us when we need him. He treats his brothers like his parents, especially me. He was three when I married and he still wanted to sleep next to me. So every night, he would fall asleep between my bride and me and then, we would move him to near our mother later. The only thing now is that he is so busy, and he has different, high-class friends."

"It is a different life," he adds on a wistful note.

While Ershad says there was never any move to stop Yousuf from playing cricket as a kid (they could not afford a bat, so he would play with the soti, the plank dhobis would use to beat clothes with). "He was the youngest and the rest of us were working. We could manage without sending him to work."

Friends however, recall that on more than one occasion, Yousuf would be beaten by his father for playing in the nearby maidan all the time. "He would still come back and play. No one ever worked so hard," says Md Akram, now a waiter, who lived near where Yousuf used to.

Anyway, that is past. Yousuf's enthusiasm for the game impressed his mama, Pyaara, who took care of the nets for Universal Club. The young Yousuf played a while there, but his enthusiasm waned as no one took notice. His brother Jameel, who worked in a tailor's shop, suggested he join as a cutter. Yousuf was on the verge of joining as a tailor's apprentice when he got sponsored to play league cricket in England along with a batch of other underprivileged Pakistani boys.

When he came back, he got to play his first first-class game for Bhawalpur vs Peshawar. There, on a tricky pitch, he made a fifty and caught the eye of the match referee Azhar Khan, who had played one Test for Pakistan. Khan got him into the reserves for National Bank and then, into the squad for Wapda (Water and Power Development Authority). In his first game for them against Habib Bank, he made a 100. And never looked back.

Yousuf was always a serious kid, says his brother. He is now, by all accounts, a fairly serious man. "He has never forgotten his background and is paranoid about getting back there," says a former Pakistan player.

"He is a reserved, gentle person who minds his own business." He is also a tremendously gifted batsman, one that Pakistan cannot do without at the moment.

On Saturday, it's time for the azaan at the Gaddafi. The other players get ready for namaaz. Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria and Yousuf stand apart, waiting. Hangers-on drift away.

As you leave too and walk into the official team hotel, you are greeted by a huge rolling poster, spanning several floors. Only one player figures on it. Yousuf Youhana, getting ready to whack the ball through the covers.