Younis Khan is one of the best batsman Pakistan has ever produced. He has currently more than 9,500 runs in Tests and soon he will become the first Pakistani batsman to go past 10,000-run mark. Shiamak Unwalla looks at 10 compelling stats that argue that Younis could be Pakistan’s best Test batsman of all time.
1. Younis’ greatest record is that he has the most Test centuries by a Pakistani batsman: 33
2. Younis is the only Pakistani batsmen to have over 9,000 Test runs. Before Younis, Javed Miandad was the highest run-getter from Pakistan in Tests with 8,832 runs.
3. Younis has the best batting average (53.18 – before the 113th Test) among Pakistan batsmen with at least 1,000 Test runs.
4. Younis also holds a rather dubious record. With 17 ducks, he is joint-fourth on the list of Pakistan batsmen with most ducks, behind Danish Kaneria (25), WaqarYounis (21), Wasim Bari (19), and Wasim Akram (17).
5. Younis is one of only five Pakistan batsmen to score centuries in three consecutive Test innings. He achieved the feat against Australia in the 2014 series in UAE. Incidentally, he is only the second batsman after the great Herbert Sutcliffe to do so against Australia.
6. Younis is one of seven Pakistani batsmen to score centuries in each innings of a Test. He achieved the record against Australia in the 2014 series in UAE. He became the first Pakistan batsman to do so against Australia.
7. With 31 half-centuries and 33 tons, Younis has an excellent fifty-to-hundred conversion rate.
8. Though not renowned for his bowling, Younis has a knack of dismissing top-order batsmen. He bowls medium pace and leg-spin. Of his nine Test wickets, as many as seven have been of top-order batsmen, which includes Rangana Herath when he was sent in to open batting for Sri Lanka. Some of his victims have been Virender Sehwag, Hashim Amla, TillakaratneDilshan, and ThilanSamaraweera.
9. Younis is also one of the greatest ever batsmen away from home. He has scored over 5,000 runs away from home, which is over 53 percent of his overall career runs. However, this includes matches played at UAE, which has been Pakistan’s base of operations for a good part of Younis’ career.
10. Younis is the only Pakistan batsman to score centuries against all other Test-playing countries. He is in an elite list, as only 11 others have achieved this feat — all of whom were legends.
(Shiamak Unwalla is a proud Whovian and all-round geek who also dabbles in cricket writing as a reporter with CricketCountry. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)