Younis Khan breaks 10,000-run barrier: Statistics, records, milestones

Of Test-playing nations, Pakistan are the seventh to have a member in the 10,000-run club till Younis Khan broke the barrier.

Finally. It took Pakistan almost 65 years to get there, but they have finally found a member of the 10,000-Test-runs club. Obviously, things were not easy in the early days when Tests were fewer, but Hanif Mohammad had kept the Pakistan career high with 3,915 runs at 43.98. Then came the run-glutton Zaheer Abbas, the peerless demolisher Javed Miandad, that deviant artist Saleem Malik, the omnipresent Inzamam-ul-Haq, and the graceful Mohammad Yousuf. All of them crossed the 5,000-run barrier — a club that will soon induct Misbah-ul-Haq, albeit in his final Test series. Azhar Ali, despite being around for a mere seven years, is also closing in.  FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Pakistan vs West Indies 2017, 1st Test at Jamaica

None of these men, however, made it to the magical five figures, the Holy Grail of every batsman who dons the Test cap. Let alone 10,000, there was no Pakistani in the 9,000-run club until October 2015. It has taken Younis Khan over a year and a half to get those last thousand runs, but two things must be remembered here: first, Pakistan have played a mere 13 Tests between that Test at Abu Dhabi and the ongoing Test at Sabina Park; and they do not have the advantage of playing at home.

Top run-getters for Pakistan
Batsmen	M	I	NO	R	Ave	100s
Younis Khan	115	208	20	10,000	53.19	34
Javed Miandad	124	189	21	8,832	52.57	23
Inzamam-ul-Haq	119	198	22	8,829	50.16	25
Mohammad Yousuf	90	156	12	7,530	52.29	24
Saleem Malik	103	154	22	5,768	43.70	15
Zaheer Abbas	78	124	11	5,062	44.80	12
Updated till Younis Khan reached 10,000 runs
Inzamam-ul-Haq had scored 1 run for ICC World XI.

Younis, however, is not merely a Pakistan giant. He is a giant across nations. For example, only four men in the 10,000-run club average more than his staggering 53.21, and all three — Kumar Sangakkara, Jacques Kallis, and Sachin Tendulkar — are giants of the game. Let us not forget that Younis, unlike the others, never had the advantage of playing half his matches in his home nation.

The 10,000-run club, sorted by average
Batsmen	M	I	NO	R	Ave	100s
Kumar Sangakkara	134	233	17	12,400	57.41	38
Jacques Kallis	166	280	40	13,289	55.37	45
Sachin Tendulkar	200	329	33	15,921	53.79	51
Younis Khan	115	208	20	10,000	53.19	34
Brian Lara	131	232	6	11,953	52.89	34
Rahul Dravid	164	286	32	13,288	52.31	36
Ricky Ponting	168	287	29	13,378	51.85	41
Shivnarine Chanderpaul	164	280	49	11,867	51.37	30
Sunil Gavaskar	125	214	16	10,122	51.12	34
Steve Waugh	168	260	46	10,927	51.06	32
Allan Border	156	265	44	11,174	50.56	27
Mahela Jayawardene	149	252	15	11,814	49.85	34
Alastair Cook	140	253	15	11,057	46.46	30
Updated till Younis Khan reached 10,000 runs

One of the lesser-discussed aspects of Younis’ career is his staggering conversion rate of the fifties to hundreds. Put a cut-off of 25 Test hundreds, and only Don Bradman had a superior rate — and, as we are aware, performing worse than Bradman on a batting chart does not really count.

Highest conversion rates (25 or more 100s)
Player	M	100	50+	Conversion
Don Bradman	52	29	42	69.0%
Younis Khan	115	34	66	51.5%
Michael Clarke	115	28	55	50.9%
Matthew Hayden	103	30	59	50.8%
Garry Sobers	93	26	56	46.4%
Updated till Younis Khan reached 10,000 runs

Unfortunately, Younis rarely got a chance to play at home; as a result, he ended up being the oldest to the 10,000-run mark. He also has one of the longest time-spans taken to reach the milestone since debut.

Oldest to 10,000 runs
Batsmen	10,000 runs	Date of birth	Age
			Years	Days
Younis Khan	Apr 23, 2017	Nov 29, 1977	39	146
Shivnarine Chanderpaul	Apr 23, 2012	Aug 16, 1974	37	250
Sunil Gavaskar	Mar 4, 1987	Jul 10, 1949	37	237
Steve Waugh	Jan 2, 2003	Jun 2, 1965	37	213
Allan Border	Jan 2, 1993	Jul 27, 1955	37	157
Kumar Sangakkara	Dec 26, 2012	Jul 27, 1977	35	151
Brian Lara	Aug 12, 2004	May 2, 1969	35	101
Rahul Dravid	Mar 26, 2008	Jan 11, 1973	35	76
Mahela Jayawardene	Dec 26, 2011	Jul 27, 1977	34	151
Ricky Ponting	May 30, 2008	Dec 19, 1974	33	163
Jacques Kallis	Feb 26, 2009	Oct 16, 1975	33	132
Sachin Tendulkar	Mar 16, 2005	Apr 24, 1973	31	326
Alastair Cook	Jun 27, 2016	Dec 25, 1984	31	185
Date of 10,000 runs is the first day of the relevant Test

 

Most time taken to 10,000 runs
Batsmen	10,000 runs	Debut	Time
			Years	Days
Shivnarine Chanderpaul	Apr 23, 2012	Mar 17, 1994	18	37
Younis Khan	Apr 23, 2017	Feb 26, 2000	17	56
Steve Waugh	Jan 2, 2003	Dec 26, 1985	17	6
Sunil Gavaskar	Mar 4, 1987	Mar 6, 1971	15	363
Sachin Tendulkar	Mar 16, 2005	Nov 15, 1989	15	123
Mahela Jayawardene	Dec 26, 2011	Aug 2, 1997	14	146
Allan Border	Jan 2, 1993	Dec 29, 1978	14	3
Brian Lara	Aug 12, 2004	Dec 6, 1990	13	249
Jacques Kallis	Feb 26, 2009	Dec 14, 1995	13	73
Ricky Ponting	May 30, 2008	Dec 8, 1995	12	174
Kumar Sangakkara	Dec 26, 2012	Jul 20, 2000	12	158
Rahul Dravid	Mar 26, 2008	Jun 20, 1996	11	280
Alastair Cook	Jun 27, 2016	Mar 1, 2006	10	118
Date of debut and 10,000 runs are the first days of the relevant Tests

The above parameters are probably unfair. The number of innings required to reach 10,000 runs is probably a better indicator.

Least innings to 10,000 runs
Batsmen	M	I	Ave
Brian Lara	111	195	52.91
Kumar Sangakkara	115	195	55.8
Sachin Tendulkar	122	195	57.58
Ricky Ponting	118	196	58.72
Rahul Dravid	120	206	55.41
Younis Khan	116	208	53.06
Mahela Jayawardene	127	210	50.72
Sunil Gavaskar	124	212	51.01
Jacques Kallis	129	217	54.37
Alastair Cook	128	229	46.49
Allan Border	136	235	52.08
Shivnarine Chanderpaul	140	239	50.02
Steve Waugh	156	244	49.45

 

Younis makes it to the sixth spot here. However, if one goes by Tests, Younis’ 116 matches have been beaten by only Brian Lara (111) and Sangakkara (115).

As mentioned above, Younis will become the first member of the 10,000-run club from Pakistan. New Zealand are the only major Test-playing side that was yet to have a representative.

India were the first team to enter this club, in 1987. It has taken three decades for the seventh side to make it to the list. In fact, till 2003 only two men (Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border) had reached 10,000 Test runs.

10,000-run club entry date for every country
Countries	10,000 run on	First man	Others
India	Mar 4, 1987	Sunil Gavaskar	Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid
Australia	Jan 2, 1993	Allan Border	Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting
West Indies	Aug 12, 2004	Brian Lara	Shivnarine Chanderpaul
South Africa	Feb 26, 2009	Jacques Kallis
Sri Lanka	Dec 26, 2011	Mahela Jayawardene	Kumar Sangakkara
England	Jun 27, 2016	Alastair Cook
Pakistan	Apr 23, 2017	Younis Khan
Date of 10,000 runs is the first day of the relevant Test

A cumulative list of highest scorers in Test cricket for Pakistan probably merits a mention here.

Hanif had scored 52 in Pakistan’s first ever Test. After Nazar Mohammad held it for a fortnight, Hanif got it back and got involved in a duel with Waqar Hasan. Hanif eventually sealed it in early 1958 and held the record till 1982.

Majid Khan held it for a while before Zaheer and Miandad kept snatching the record from each other over almost three years. Miandad eventually retired with 8,832 Test runs. Inzamam finished on 8,829, an agonising 3 runs behind Miandad, which deserves special mention.

Inzamam’s case mentions special mention. He had announced that he would retire after the 2-Test home series against South Africa in 2007-08. He missed the first Test but played the second, and needed 21 to go past Miandad. He scored 14 in the first innings, which meant he needed another 7. In the second innings he got off the mark first ball, pushing Kallis past mid-wicket for three. He tried to loft Paul Harris off the next ball and was stumped. Inzamam fell 3 short of Miandad’s tally. He had also played a Test for ICC World XI, but had scored 1 and 0, so he finished on 8,830.

Highest run-getters for Pakistan: a cumulative study
Runs	Batsmen	Record set on	Record held till	Record held for
				Years	Days
52	Hanif Mohammad	Oct 16, 1952	Oct 22, 1952	0	6
53	Nazar Mohammad	Oct 23, 1952	Nov 12, 1952	0	19
159	Hanif Mohammad	Nov 13, 1952	Nov 27, 1952	0	14
198	Waqar Hasan	Nov 28, 1952	Jul 21, 1954	1	236
232	Hanif Mohammad	Jul 22, 1954	Dec 31, 1954	0	161
450	Waqar Hasan	Jan 1, 1955	Jan 14, 1955	0	13
564	Hanif Mohammad	Jan 15, 1955	Oct 25, 1955	0	284
666	Waqar Hasan	Oct 26, 1955	Jan 16, 1958	2	81
928	Hanif Mohammad	Jan 17, 1958	Aug 25, 1982	24	221
3,916	Majid Khan	Aug 26, 1982	Jan 2, 1983	0	128
3,932	Zaheer Abbas	Jan 3, 1983	Sep 23, 1983	0	264
4,145	Javed Miandad	Sep 24, 1983	Oct 4, 1983	0	10
4,218	Zaheer Abbas	Oct 5, 1983	Nov 9, 1983	0	34
4,260	Javed Miandad	Nov 10, 1983	Nov 24, 1983	0	14
4,275	Zaheer Abbas	Nov 25, 1983	Dec 8, 1983	0	13
4,365	Javed Miandad	Dec 9, 1983	Dec 25, 1983	0	16
4,444	Zaheer Abbas	Dec 26, 1983	Oct 15, 1985	1	293
5,059	Javed Miandad	Oct 16, 1985	Oct 12, 2015	29	361
8,833	Younis Khan	Oct 13, 2015	Apr 20, 2017	1	190
10,000	Younis Khan	Apr 23, 2017

Miandad held the record for almost 30 years before Younis went past him. Younis had stretched the benchmark to five figures now: where will he stop?

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