5 cricketers who have changed their names

#2) Mohammad Yousuf (Pakistan)

Mohammad Yousuf, born Yousuf Youhana, was one of the very few Christians to have played for the Pakistan Cricket team. In fact, before his conversion to Islam, he was only the 4^th Christian and 5^th non-Muslim to have represented the country.

Mohammad Yousuf is, so far, the only non-Muslim to have ever captained Pakistan. He did so when he led the side during the tour of Australia in 2004-05. However, after attending the teachings of Tablighi Jamaat, Pakistan’s largest non-political religious grouping, he decided to convert to Islam.

His wife Tania, also adopted the religion and changed her name to Fatima. However, the news was kept private for three months due to family reasons, before his announcement of their conversion publicly in September 2005.

“I don’t want to give Yousuf my name after what he has done”, his mother was quoted as saying by the Daily Times newspaper. “We came to know about his decision when he offered Friday prayers at a local mosque. It was a shock”, his mother was reported as saying. However, Yousuf told the BBC that “I cannot tell you what a great feeling it is.”