'A legend on the road and fine catcher to boot'
Saturday 24 October 2015 17:00, UK
Javed Miandad will forever be an icon of Pakistani cricket, but he is no longer the country's leading Test run-scorer.
That accolade has been taken by Younus Khan, who surpassed Miandad's tally of 8,832 runs during the first Test against England in Abu Dhabi.
The 37-year-old reached the landmark in his 102nd game, compared to the 124 matches it took Miandad, a staple of Pakistan's batting order between 1976 and 1993.
And although a player of Younus' artistry should not be judged solely on numbers, it is hard to overlook figures like these, figures that he boosted with back-to-back half centuries in the second Test in Dubai...
THE STATS
9,024 - Younus is the 14th man overall and the sixth player from the subcontinent to pass 9,000 Test runs. He is also the oldest man to reach that landmark, having done so at the age of 37 years, 329 days. India's Sunil Gavaskar held the previous record at 36 years, 160 days.
54.36 - Younus' Test batting average, the highest by any Pakistani batsman to have played 20 innings or more. Miandad sits in second place with 52.57, while Inzamam-ul Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and current wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed also average over 50.
30 - The most Test tons by a Pakistani, placing Younus above Inzamam (25), Mohammad Yousuf (24) and Miandad (23) in the history books. The right-hander is joint-eighth on the all-time list alongside Matthew Hayden (Australia) and Shiv Chanderpaul (West Indies).
5 - The veteran made history over the summer, with his superb 171 not out in a win over Sri Lanka making him the only man to have registered five centuries in the fourth innings of a Test match. Sunil Gavaskar, Ricky Ponting, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Graeme Smith have four.
3 - Younus became just the third man to score a Test triple hundred for Pakistan, after Inzamam in 2002 and Hanif Mohammad in 1958, when posting 313 against Sri Lanka in Karachi in 2009. He has also passed 200 in a Test innings on a further four occasions.
110 - And proving he can be just as lethal in the field as in the middle, Younus has also snaffled the most Test catches by a Pakistani, 17 more than fellow great Miandad's 93.
"He has been this one constant over the last few years in Pakistani cricket. It has been quite volatile at times with people in and out of the side but he has been their rock."
NO FLAT-TRACK BULLY
Plenty of Younus' success has come in Pakistan and the UAE, where he has amassed seven and nine tons and averages of 59.31 and 56.02 respectively, but he has also been a vital cog for his country on their travels.
Younus averages over 50 in England, 76.80 in India and a whopping 100.66 in Bangladesh, helping him become the third-highest Test run-scorer on the road, with his 6,916 only bettered by India legends Sachin Tendulkar (8,705) and Rahul Dravid (7,690).
He has also scored the most hundreds (15) and plundered the most runs (3,642) in Test wins away from home, edging Steve Waugh (14) on the first count and Ponting (3,314) on the second.
YOUNUS' TOP TONS
The first - 107 v Sri Lanka, Feb 2000, Rawalpindi
Younus' debut century was bittersweet, with Pakistan beaten by Sri Lanka by two wickets, but he gave a glimpse of what was to come. Having made just 12 in the first innings, the then-22-year-old scored a ton batting at No 7, the right-hander bumped down a spot due to Waqar Younis' stint as night watchman. A highlight for Younus would have been batting alongside Wasim Akram, the youngster and the legend putting on 145 for the ninth wicket despite an injured Wasim needing a runner!
The latest - 171* v Sri Lanka, July 2015, Pallekele
The batsman's century last time out led Pakistan to their highest-ever successful run chase - the tourists knocking off 377 - and to a first series win in Sri Lanka since 2006. Having been dismissed for 215 in their opening dig and stuttering to 13-2 in their second, things looked bleak for Misbah-ul-Haq's men. Opener Shan Masood (125) subsequently hit a first Test hundred, but fourth-innings master Younus was the star, exceeding Sir Don Bradman's tally of 29 Test match tons in the process.
The highest - 313 v Sri Lanka, Feb 2009, Karachi
What is it with Younus and Sri Lanka? He has hit eight Test centuries against the Lions - more than any other nation - with his 568-ball clinic six years ago the finest of the bunch. Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera had smote not-too-shabby double hundreds for Sri Lanka, only to see Younus outdo them with an innings that contained 27 fours and four sixes and lasted 760 minutes. After that aforementioned hundred in Palleleke, Sri Lanka really must be sick of the sight of him!
The best - 267 v India, March 2005, Bangalore
Test tons probably always feel sweeter for Pakistanis when they come against India and Younus has achieved that feat five times. Only one has come in a winning cause, but what an innings it was. With Pakistan 7-2 after electing to bat, Younus put on 324 with Inzamam (184) and faced 504 balls before becoming the penultimate man out in Pakistan's first-innings 570. Not content with that, Younis plundered an unbeaten 85 second time around as the tourists secured a series-drawing triumph.
Best versus England - 173, Headingley, August 2006
Younus was involved in another monumental stand against England in the third Test at Leeds, posting 363 with Mohammad Yousuf (192). Younis, who was run out by Sajid Mahmood (remember him?), could not save Pakistan from slipping to defeat but fell in love with the surroundings so much that he signed for Yorkshire for the 2007 season. His next six innings against England, meanwhile, were pretty fallow but he rectified that by notching 127 when the sides met in Dubai three years ago.
PUNDIT PERSPECTIVE
Former Pakistan batsman, Aamir Sohail: "He is a committed cricketer and thoroughly deserves his success. I remember him making his debut and I was highly impressed right from the beginning with his work ethic, and his confidence. He has this incredible ability to force the bowlers to bowl where he wants them to. He is also one of very few players who is just as effective in the second innings of a Test match. That tells you a story of how determined and well-equipped a player he is. He has such a great technique and he keeps on working on it
Ex-England fast-bowler, Bob Willis: "It's a terrific record. To average 52 away from home is incredible. There are plenty of batsmen over the years who have averages in the fifties in Pakistan, and who rarely got given out lbw in the old days, but he will go down as one of the great batsmen of all time. He is up there with the likes of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara for Sri Lanka. These guys don't always get quotes as being great players, but Younus is right in that bracket."
