Recently Younis Khan became the first Pakistani batsman to scale what is called Mt.Everest in Cricket, the 10000 Test runs mark. The right hander from Madran is signing off, leaving big shoes to fill.
Born on 29 November 1975, Younis Khan made his both test and ODI debuts against Sri Lanka in February 2000.
The first four years of international cricket were tough. Like many others, he took his time to get into his groove in Test Cricket. The metamorphosis was slow nevertheless steady. Till 2003, his average with the bat was a modest, shade above 37.
The year 2004 saw a surge in his game. In 6 tests he averaged 51 and started showing he belongs to this arena. He had to battle the tough times of death of his father and 2 brothers during the period between 2005 and 2006. However that didn”t had a scintilla of effect on his performances. His average kept hovering around 60s during that period.
Younis, along with Inzamam and Mohammad Yousuf formed a platinum trio that shouldered Pakistani batting line up in 2000s.
In the later part of his career he kept piling runs with the bat and achieved great heights that will make him the greatest batsman to have ever played for Pakistan. His highest test score of 313 came against Sri Lanka in 2009.
Technically he was never the most elegant you will come across. His wobbly feet movements will make you wonder how can he survive on green tops against quality fast bowling. But the important thing was he used to get the job done.
What separated him from others was his ability to weather day 4 and day 5 pitches. His average in 4th innings is whooping 53, not to forget his marathon 171* against Sri Lanka at Pallekele in 2015 when Pakistan chased down mammoth 382.
His numbers outside subcontinent are not as large as those in subcontinent. Nevertheless, they are pretty decent. Out of 34, 7 hundreds have came outside subcontinent. The only regret he will have is not being able to win as many matches for Pakistan outside subcontinent as he could have.
Younis Khan in tests in Asia
Matches-75 Runs-6926 Avg-58.20
100s-27 50s- 19
Younis Khan in tests outside Asia
Matches 41 Runs 3109 Avg 44.41
100s – 7 50s- 14
Younis Khan will be remembered for being the pillar of Pakistani Cricket in 16 years of his career and not for what he could have done outside subcontinent.
– by Atharva Apte
