It has almost become a ritual now. Every other night as I am lying on the couch in front of the television after a long day, chips crumbs on my shirt and a diet coke in my hand, I come across your scowling face on the screen.
And there you are, attacking the Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq as you have been for the last few years.
Mr Yousuf, as a former Pakistani batsman who has represented the nation in 90 test matches with a glorious record, you have every right to criticise the skipper, but your attacks are growing more and more personal by the day.
Your criticism is having the opposite effect – people are now starting to ask questions about you.
Your most recent criticism of the man is that he isn’t batting at the crucial no.3 position, and that he ‘lacks the heart and courage to inspire the team.’
Also read: Time to appreciate Misbah-ul-Haq
Mr Yousuf, as a resident of Pakistan, I am sure you have faced the frustration of your home being deprived of electricity. I am also sure that to make do you have installed a UPS with a battery so that the essentials such as the ceiling fans and lights are still operational in the case of a blackout.
Sir, I ask you: What would happen if instead of just the essentials, you placed the entire strain of your household items on the single UPS, including the air conditioners, fridge, television, and the like?
At this moment in time, Misbah-ul-Haq is our most reliable source of power. If you expose him at the top of the order against the newer ball and he fails, well, our team will have to be taken to Saddar, Karachi, for repairs.
What’s more Mr Yousuf, throughout your career, you batted in the middle-order, refusing to come up to no.3 even when the team needed you to.
Mr Yousuf, there is nothing wrong with constructive criticism, but criticism without practical solutions reeks of pettiness.
Nothing exemplified this more than your old suggestion that Misbah should have been replaced by Saeed Ajmal as leader.
Ajmal is about as old as Misbah and not even a batsman, so he couldn’t have satisfied your ‘leading from the front’ prerequisite. If you aren’t pleased with your UPS, do you go out and replace it with an untested and aged item, or do you wait till you can purchase a generator?
But the comment that has hit me for a clean six is, “Misbah has a strange batting technique and he is someone who consumes lot of balls to get going and is yet not capable of playing an impact innings. The nature of his batting is now beginning to show in our other players.”
Sir, which Pakistan are you talking about? One can only hope that the nature of Misbah’s batting will show on rash cricketers such as Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi who have a mind of their own.
Read up on: Pakistan cricket: great rivalries and bust ups
Such comments lead us to wonder if there is professional jealousy at play here. Aren’t you a similar age as the man in your iron sights? Is he not a fitter athlete than you are? Did he not begin to shine in T20 cricket while you were shown your way out of the door?
Before I end this letter, I would like to ask you a question about your own captaincy:
Tell us, O perfect one, what happened in the Sydney Test?
I'll tell you what happened: At 257 for 8 in their final innings, Australia was on the mat in a stranglehold from Pakistan, ready to tap out in agony. Yet, to everyone’s disbelief, you allowed them respite. Only two wickets away from glory, you spread the field around, shifting players from attacking positions to extremely defensive ones, as if the crippled Aussies were on a rampage.
Here, they easily accumulated runs until they eventually scored 381. Ultimately, they were 176 ahead with the momentum handed to them.
I used to watch WWE wrestling when younger, and remember that even the undead superstar, The Undertaker, would not get up after being hit with more than two finishing manoeuvres. Yet, here was Australia, recovering like Undertaker on steroids.
Where was your heart and courage then?
See what Misbah has to say about criticism: A captain in exile
Surely, you remember that you chose to stay in the middle order during the match, and sent an underperforming batsmen like Faisal Iqbal at no.3.
On the other hand, Misbah-ul-Haq has earned extremely memorable victories with an inexperienced team over the years. He may bat at no.5, but he always leads from the front, and his team's respect for him is visible. Why do you not commend his leadership when he is successful?
I am afraid you are wrong Mr Yousuf, for Misbah-ul-Haq has the heart and courage of a lion, and doesn't waiver even with so many hyenas nipping at his ankles.
Oh, and if you feel I'm not qualified enough to speak on the issue, here is what Aqib Javed had to say in a recent interview:
"It’s all a case of poor management. There must be a solid reason to make or remove a captain. If you compare Misbah’s captaincy record with others who criticise him on television on a daily basis, you will see how far he stands out. Mohammad Yousuf is always blabbering against Misbah. Shoaib Akhtar is always swearing at the captain on national television. I don’t understand what they want."