Name: Younis Khan

Birth date: 1977-11-29

Hometown: Mardan

Teams: Pakistan, Habib Bank Limited, Nottinghamshire, Peshawar Cricket Association, Rajasthan Royals, South Australia, Surrey, Warwickshire, Yorkshire

 

 

Younis Khan is Pakistan’s flamboyant middle order batsman. A ‘livewire’ of a character in the Pakistan dressing room and an ex-captain.

 

A slow starter by international standards, it took him 4 years to cement his place in the Pakistani side. Heavily criticized by his detractors, he silenced his critics after a prolific tour to Australia whilst the rest of the team capitulated ‘Down Under’.

 

He was appointed Inzaman’s vice-captain soon after, excelling in the role – stepping in for Inzamam on a number of occasions, it was clear that Younis was a naturally gifted captain in the making.

 

It’s against India that he has unleashed his fury – series after series he has punished their bowling, amassing a mountain of runs in the process. Younis also joined an elite list of players to score a triple century in a test match against Sri Lanka in February 2009. He showed immense discipline and concentration to play almost two full days in Karachi heat for 313 runs. 

 

And he's a superb fielder - a rarity in the current Pakistan side. Of late he has also surprised many with his useful seam bowling, 

 

Younis finally accepted the role of captain after Shoaib Maliks removal, but didnt enjoy a great start against Australia in the UAE with criticism of his tactics from some quarters. However that did not deter Younis and he continued to back his players to acheive success. The support and harmony in the squad paid dividends in the 2009 T20 World Cup. Younis Khan rallied his troops and played some exceptional captain knocks along the way as he became only the second captain of Pakistan to bring home a World Cup.

 

He continued the good form by taking Pakistan to a semi final at the Champions Trophy later that year (Pakistan being the only team to make it to the top 4 in both tournaments). However, weak and irresponsible match-fixing allegations prompted him to once again step down from the role of captain. Further support from the Pakistani public and the PCB made Younis reverse his decision. Following a poor one day series against NZ in UAE, Younis Khan stepped away from the Pakistani team citing a rest missing the test series against New Zealand and Australia.  He did however take part in the disastrous ODI series against Australia which eventually led to him being banned from all forms of cricket by the PCB for causing infighting within team.  

 

As a result, Pakistan missed the services of Younis Khan once again in tests during their summer 2010 tour against Australia and England.  Younis Khan came back to the test side with a bang in the test series against South Africa where he scored a match-saving century and he continued that form against New Zealand in the series down-under. He also became a solid and reliable middle order batsmen in Pakistan's ODI lineup along with Misbah Ul Haq.
Younis had a mixed 2011 World Cup under the captaincy of Shahid Afridi where he played a few important knocks in the group stage but performed poorly and failed to get going at all in the hyped semi finals against India which Pakistan eventually lost.

Despite his struggles at ODI level, Younis continued to pile on the runs and had productive series against Sri Lanka and England and played a major role in the victories Pakistan had.

While he was criticised for his performances in ODIs, he remained one of Pakistan's classiest Test batsmen, a brilliant century on the tough tour of South Africa being ample evidence of that. He was however left out of the 30-man squad for the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 but Pakistan's disastorus performance meant that he found a way back into the side.

In the lead upto the 2014 series against Australia in the UAE, Younis was dropped again from the shorter format and was told he is no longer in the plans of the team management as far as ODIs are concerned. He offered to quit Pakistan cricket completely in a fit of anger but appeared in the test series against Australia and piled on the runs and broke several records as Pakistan swept the series 2-0. He carried on his form into the test series against New Zealand and was rewarded with an ODI recall.

In the fourth match of the series, Younis scored an ODI century after seven years, albeit in a losing cause thus confirming his place for the 2015 World Cup. He had a poor World Cup and was dropped midway through and despite not officially retiring from limited overs cricket, his time in the shorter formats seems to be up.

However Younis remains an asset for Pakistan in Tests and wll be hoping to reach 10,000 runs before retirement.

 

Last updated on 16th June 2015