Aiyaan Shakoor of Pakistan writes: “Younis Khan contributed mightily, often without fanfare. He’s a legend of Pakistani cricket!”
Sri Lanka’s tour of Pakistan in 2000 was not a memorable one for Pakastani fans. The home country lost 2-1 in the test series, the sole victory coming in the dead rubber in Karachi.
Courtesy: Business Recorder
But the first test in Rawalpindi set the pedestal for a new era of Pakistan batting.–an era that was thoroughly dominated by Younis Khan.
After nervy first innings, Younis became the seventh Pakistani to register a century in his debut. The fact that Pakistan lost that particular match is a subtle hint to something important: Younis has stood up for the team in times of extreme difficulty.
In that regard Younis is no different from Pakistani legends, such as Javed Miandad. He was a diligent and hard-working batsman–looking for runs, busy at the crease, and a fast runner. Those are phrases a foreign analyst might use. But critics began questioning him even though there really wasn’t anybody to replace him.
A resolute Younis just played. He scored an awe-inspiring 267 against India at Kolkata. That remained his best ever test score until 2009 when he scored Pakistan’s third triple century against Sri Lanka. In fact, that was the last test match to have been played in Pakistan ever since.
In one way Younis stands toe-to-toe with the great Imran Khan. They are the only Pakistani captains to taste World Cup glory. Younis did so in the 2009 ICC WT2O in England. Of course, Imran Khan is Pakistan’s greatest test captain of all time, but Younis deserves his fair share of recognition.
For some reason, however, Younis didn’t taste the same success in limited overs as he had in the longest format of the game. He’s the 13th batsman to score 10,000 or more runs in Test cricket, which academically makes him the best ever Pakistani batsman.
Courtesy: CricketCountry.com
Another quiet little phase in his career was overcome by success in the 2014 home series against Australia. He heaped up a mammoth 468 runs in just two test matches!
That was the time when newer fans got to know Younis. And that performance was followed by successful stints against New Zealand and Bangladesh.
Despite this prolific run, he continued to underperform in the limited overs fixtures, and eventually retired in 2015 from ODI cricket.
But no power on earth could stop him from piling up runs in Test cricket. He achieved an improbable (or impossible) 378 against a teasing Sri Lankan spin bowling attack on a 5th day pitch. Younis scored an undefeated 171.
Pakistan strolled to victory. Younis broke yet another record with that century by scoring five centuries in the 4th innings of a test match–a record which he still holds.
Younis’ most memorable innings (for me, at least) was his 218 against England at The Oval. Younis had only scored a little over 100 runs in the series until those innings.
With all the talk about Misbah-Ul-Haq, hardly anyone acknowledges Younis.
But no matter how much you tame a tiger it WILL ATTACK when provoked! Oh, let me add: in that same series he led Pakistan to #1 in the World Rankings.
With another century against Australia in Sydney, Younis became the FIRST batsman to score centuries in all eleven Test-hosting nations. 34 hundreds was the sixth highest number of all time.
He scored his 10,000th run against West Indies. He retired after that series, leaving a gap that NO ONE can fill. Yes, no one can replace this colourless gem of ours.
How can you replace a person–so honest and modest–that he fasts in Ramadan? He does it during matches when many others smile and say, “Mushqil hojaye ga” (It would get difficult.)
