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

Younis breaks 10000-run barrier: Statistics, records, milestones

Finally. It took Pakistan almost 65 years to get there, but they have finally found 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 — 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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?