Younis Khan - Pakistan cricket's symbol of courage and hope

Younis Khan is in a terrific form

In the early part of last decade, the Pakistani cricket followers were obsessed with two most promising talents named Yousuf Youhanna (Now Mohammad Yousuf) and Imran Nazir. Both these batsmen offered artistic and adventurous stroke-play. More often they were greeted with loud cheer whenever they used to come out to bat.

The Pakistanis are the worshipper of artistry, romance and adventure. They are not interested to waste their time and money on those cricketers who are unable to script elegance and thrill and when it comes to choosing a batsman, surely that willow-wielder has to be either like Zaheer Abbas, Saeed Anwar or Javed Miandad. Sadly, Younis Khan failed to fulfill the criteria of a Pakistani cricket fan, and thus, he was not their darling.

Again, Younis Khan wasn’t a technically gifted batsman. He had a plethora of chinks in his armor, his backlift was not perfect. It always came from the third man and gully while his defense and footwork was not astute as well. He did score fifties and hundreds despite such technical deficiencies, but they never showed up consistently and when it mattered the most.

The Pakistani cricket fans used to lose their interest from watching the match further whenever Younis Khan walked out to bat at number three. He was trolled by the fans and critics and his repeated failures in the national team made many of the critics lose their faith in him.

But the story of Younis Khan is pretty different at the moment. In 2015, he is one of the best batsmen in the history of Pakistan cricket. He was involved in an epic run chase in the fourth innings of a Test match and helped Pakistan to notch up an astonishing victory to win and with that, the Test series as well.

So far, he has scored five hundreds in the fourth innings of a Test match which is a world record. Younis' fourth-innings average is 57.40, the third-best among all batsmen who've scored at least 1000 fourth-innings runs.

He has played hundred Test matches for Pakistan, he has scored more than 8000 Test runs, with a batting average over 50, he has a triple hundred to his name, a career-saving and match-winning double ton against India in India, a brilliant rearguard partnership to clinch the famous Greenwash against England, he led Pakistan to win the World Twenty20 title in 2009 and his batting heroics were instrumental in nailing the Australians in the Test series last year. Younis’ contributions for Pakistan cricket has been immense.

Younis’ journey was never rosy. He had to deal with his own technical deficiencies and the ugly politics of Pakistan cricket. His career ended so many times. After the failures in both the innings of Mohali Test in 2005, his cricketing career was almost over, but he bounced back in style in Kolkata and Bengaluru. While establishing himself as a permanent member of the Pakistan team, he lost his father, elder sister, three brothers and young nephew. Then he had to deal with the death of Bob Woolmer where he was one of the suspects in the investigation in 2007 and in 2010 his journey was over when he was banned from Pakistan cricket.

But, the story of Younis Khan wasn’t meant to end in a lame fashion, but it deserves to end in a glorifying manner. Cricket fans and critics, who have followed Younis’ career should get inspired and surprised as well. It has ended so many times, but despite all those ugly politics, personal trauma and lean-patches; Younis Khan has come a long way and it has only been possible because of Younis’ courage and willpower.

Younis Khan belongs to those rare breeds of cricketers who challenges the very best in the business with the help of sheer hard work, courage and willpower. Such cricketers are blessed with enormous self-belief and mental strength. Their hard work helps them to overcome their technical shortcomings, courage, and mental strength help them to conquer adversity and transform their weaknesses into strengths while willpower aids them to move forward through the troubled waters.

Rahul Dravid once said, “Most top athletes have good technique, sound strategies and a reasonable level of fitness. But in competition their performance is controlled by the mind, their ability to get into the right frame of mind consistently and regularly, day in and day out. Your state of mind determines how well you combine and use your fitness, technical skills and games strategies”.

Younis Khan’s technique has not changed that much, but still he has survived the test of times as because his mind determines his gamesmanship and this ploy has also has helped him to conquer the tough times.

Certainly, Younis Khan is the symbol of courage and hope. He’s one of the greatest icons in the history of Pakistan cricket.