Younis Khan

Younis Khan Biography

Mohammad Younis Khan is a retired Pakistani international cricketer who was born on 29 November 1977 in Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

His role in the team was as a middle-order batsman who batted right-handed and could bowl right-arm medium. He was also incredible on the field especially in the slip cordon.

Younis is the sole Pakistani cricketer who have scored 10,000+ runs in Tests which includes 6 double tons.

He is also the lone player across the world to hit centuries in all 11 countries that have hosted Test cricket till date.

Background

Younis’s family brought him in Karachi when he was at an early age and got his cricket training started at Malir Gymkhana.

There, he met Rashid Latif and Saeed Anwar. Later, Latif played the role of a mentor for him and pioneered him towards entry in the world cricket.

Younis played his first domestic game for Peshawar in 1998.

In his debut season, he played 8 games and scored 514 runs at an average of 73.43 whereas in 1999-00 season, playing for Habib Bank Limited, he scored 1102 runs in 10 matches at a massive average of 110.2.

Debut

Younis made his debut against Sri Lanka on 13 February 2000. In that ODI, Younis scored 46 runs before getting run out unfortunately.

On the same tour, he got an opportunity to represent Pakistan in Tests also and played his first game on 26 February 2000.

Though he scored a fighting century in the second innings, he could not avert the defeat of his team.

Low Points

Younis was one of the few players who had managed to retain their places in the team after the nightmarish 2003 World Cup but during the series against Bangladesh and South Africa, he failed to make an impact and scored consistently poor.

But the Pakistan selectors gave him another chance in the ODI series against India but he disappointed them again. As a result, he didn't find a place in the Test squad.

On 10 March 2010, he was banned by Pakistan Cricket Board for allegedly leading the team into infighting.

His ban was however overturned after three months.

Rise to Glory

In 2005, Pakistan played a Test series against India and Younis scored 147 and the match winning innings of 267 runs.

Later, he also hit a ton against West Indies at Kingston and helped his team to win the match.

In 2006, Pakistan hosted India for a Test series and he once again emerged as a star performer, scoring 199 and 196 runs in two back to back games.

In the same year, Pakistan toured England for the ODI and Test series. There, he hit one more daddy hundred of 173 runs in a Test match whereas in ODI series he got a match winning ton of 101 runs in his name.

In February 2009, he got his highest score in Tests when he established an innings of 313 runs against Sri Lanka.

In his late career, his two Test innings got so much praise. First, against England at Oval when he scored 218 and the second, 175 not out against Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground.

Club Career

Younis played English County Cricket with three different teams, in 2005 with Nottinghamshire, in 2007 with Yorkshire and in 2010 with Surrey.

His most successful county stint was with Yorkshire. Playing with the club, he scored 824 runs in 13 first-class games including an innings of 217*.

In 2008, he was acquired by Rajasthan Royals but played only one IPL game. Currently, he is the captain of Abbottabad Falcons, a local club that participates in Haier T20 League.

Captaincy

In 2005, he captained Pakistan first time during the ODI series against West Indies. He led his team to the victory in the match and in the series as well.

On the same tour, he also captained Pakistan Test squad when Inzamam was serving a ban of one Test.

He also captained his team in 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, where Pakistan won only one game and were dumped out of the tournament.

Younis’s biggest achievement came when he led his team to the ICC World Twenty20 title by beating Sri Lanka in the final at Lord’s.

Younis Record in Numbers

Younis Khan has played 118 Tests in his career and scored 10,099 runs at an average of 52.05.

He also has 34 Test hundreds which is the most by a Pakistani player.

In ODIs, he got 7,249 runs in 265 games. Younis has also played 25 T20Is and scored 442 runs at an average of 22.10.

Retirement

Younis had announced his retirement from one-day internationals on 11 November 2015 and played his last game against England.

In 2017, at the age of 39, Younis stated that the series against West Indies will be his last and he played his last match on 14 May.