At 37 years of age, Younis Khan is no spring chicken; yet, he rules the roost as Pakistan’s most prolific run-chaser in cricket history. On the opening day of the first Test against England in Abu Dhabi, he struck spinner Moeen Ali for a smashing six over mid-wicket. That particular hit off the bat broke a 22-year-record held by legendary batsman Javed Miandad, placing Khan as the highest scorer for Pakistan, with 8333 runs on the board.
‘Ageing like a fine wine’, Younis has logged 39 centuries and has a tally of twenty-nine 50’s. The past year has been a particularly successful one for Younis; he has already notched up 6 hundreds and his average score in matches has been over 80. Pakistan’s first Test victory over Australia in 20 years was wrought by Younis, whose individual score in the series was a thumping 468 runs.
The world record for highest scorer is held by India’s ‘Little Master’, Sachin Tendulkar, with an astounding tally of 15,921 runs scored in 200 Test matches. Miandad’s record of 8332 was almost reached by master batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq, who fell two runs short in Sri Lanka in 2007.
This was the 102nd Test that Younis Khan played. Like Miandad, he hit a hundred in his first Test debut in Rawalpindi, playing against Sri Lanka in 2000.
Off to a flying start, Younis Khan has never looked back. The year that has progressed so well so far still has a couple of months to go and expectations of fans are that Younis will close 2015 in as spectacular a way as he began it.