CRICKET
younus khan
the run machine
I
n simple words, Younus Khan is a modern great. He
now holds the record of most runs by a Pakistani Test
batsman, has the most number of centuries, he has
held the most catches by a Pakistani fielder and on top
of all this, he has the best average among Pakistani
batsman in Test cricket. These records become more
exclusive when mentioned in retrospect, because our
team has boasted of the inclusion of players such as
Hanif Mohammad, Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Javed
Miandad, Saleem Malik, Inzamamul Haq, Saeed Anwar
and Mohammad Yousuf. Younus may not have the same
elegance as Inzamam, he may not get under the skin of
the opponent like Miandad and he definitely does not
play the same silky smooth cover drives as Yousuf did.
But Younus did not need any of this, he has his own
style. As soon as Younus comes on to the pitch to bat,
he begins to hop and jump at the crease, then he begins
to settle down by playing those famous back-foot cover
drives. Eventually, he started taking charge of the spinners with those sixes over deep mid-wicket and then the
occasional reverse sweeps. I feel it’s a pleasure to watch
him play. He plays cricket just like cricket should be
played. He always seems proud to wear a Pakistani
shirt, with that slight arrogance about him but with a
smile on his face. He is a true team player, putting up a
strong fight against the opposition, never getting bogged
down by the pressure, and most of all, he takes pride in
his team mates success. Initially, it wasn’t easy for Younus since he made his debut when he was 22-years-old.
Having to replace the injured Ijaz Ahmed, he had some
big shoes to fill, which he managed to do. A smashing
debut century against Sri Lanka proved that he had the
potential to succeed at the international level. But due to
the presence of senior players, he had to wait for more
chances to prove his worth. The passion and hunger for
learning was always there though. He recalls how he
used to carry kit bags of senior players on tour just to be
around them and learn from them. His next big breakthrough came during the first Test on the tour of New
Zealand in 2000-01 where he scored a match winning
91 and 149 not out, an inning he rates as one of his best.
It made him believe that he belonged in the team.
Chances kept coming his way and he took full advantage of them by scoring consistently. Under Waqar Younis’s captaincy he became an important part of the Pakistani team but lost his place in spot in the team after
Inzamam took over as captain after the World Cup in
mid-2003 after which he barely got to play Test cricket in
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