Source(www.Google.com.pk)
Younus Khan Biography
Mohammad
Younus Khan (born November 29, 1977 in Mardan, North-West Frontier Province) is
a Pakistani cricketer and current captain of the Pakistan national cricket
team. Younus’ name is often spelled Younis Khan, but he has been quoted as
saying, “My name is Younus Khan. I tell people that everywhere, He is only the
third Pakistani player to score 300 or more runs in an innings.
International
career
Younus
Khan made his international debut in an ODI against Sri Lanka at Karachi in
February 2000, and has since played over 150 ODIs for Pakistan. He has also
played in over 50 Test matches. Younus was one of the few batsmen who retained
his place in the team after Pakistan’s disastrous World Cup campaign in 2003,
but lost it soon after due to a string of poor scores in the home series
against Bangladesh and South Africa. He came back for the one-day series
against India, but failed to cement a place in the Test side.
It
was his return to the side in October 2004, at the pivotal one-down, against
Sri Lanka in Karachi that laid the groundwork for his emergence as a force in
Pakistan cricket. He was the top run-getter in the disastrous 3-0 whitewash in
Australia immediately after and on the tour of India, for which Younus was
elevated to vice-captain, he blossomed. After a horror start to the series he
came back strongly, capping things off with 267 in the final Test. It was his
highest Test score and came off 504 balls in the first innings, to set up a
series levelling victory in Bangalore.
As
well as being an accomplished batsman, Younus is also a skilled slip fielder
and a very occasional leg-spin bowler. He has performed particularly well
outside Pakistan, including on tours of Australia, India, England and Sri
Lanka. In the six Tests he has played against India, Younus averages an
exceptional 106, the highest average against India by a Pakistani.[3] Apart
from his 267 at Bangalore, Younus also made 147 at Kolkata in 2005 and a pair
of centuries during India’s trip to Pakistan in 2006. More importantly, the
tour to India also showcased his potential as a future captain of Pakistan and
his energetic and astute leadership has impressed many people. Also in 2006,
Younus made a century in the third Test against England at Headingley. On 22
January 2007, he scored a matchwinning 67 not out in the 4th innings to guide
Pakistan to victory over South Africa in Port Elizabeth. The five wicket win
levelled the series at 1-1.
In
2005, he was one of the 15 nominees for the ICC Test Player of the Year. He is
the second fastest Pakistani in terms of innings to reach 4000 Test runs,
behind Javed Miandad. Younus reached the milestone in 87 innings, just one more
than Sachin Tendulkar took.
Younus
Khan topped the ICC’s Test Batting Rankings in February 2009 after an acclaimed
innings of 313 in his first test as captain, in the process of helping save the
match for Pakistan. His ranking score of 880 is the third highest achieved by a
Pakistani batsmen after Mohammad Yousuf (933), Javed Miandad (885) and just
ahead of Inzamam-ul-Haq (870).
Captaincy
situation
He
first led Pakistan against the West Indies in 2005. In September 2006, he was
offered the position of captain for the course of the 2006 ICC Champions
Trophy, following the suspension of Inzamam ul Haq. He turned down the offer,
stating he didn’t want to be a “dummy captain”.[7] However, on the morning of
October 7, 2006 the Pakistan Cricket Board announced that Khan would lead his
team in the tournament.[8] Following the resignation of Inzamam after the
side’s exit from the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Khan was offered the captaincy on
a permanent basis, but turned it down. He blamed the angry reaction by the
Pakistani public to side’s early exit from the tournament.
After
Pakistan’s 2009 2 matches to 1 defeat to Sri Lanka, PCB chairman Ijaz Butt
appointed Younus Khan as the permanent captain of both the Test and ODI teams.
The appointment became effective as of January 27, 2009.[10] Shortly after
accepting the post Younus was quoted as saying, “I will try and fix things that
aren’t right at the moment…I want our team to be consistent above all, in
everything we do and that will require everyone to put their hands up.” [11]
Younus went on to say that he expects full support from former captain Shoaib
Malik whom he called a senior player in the side.
County
Cricket
In
2005, Younus played county cricket for Nottinghamshire in England. In the 2007
English domestic cricket season, played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club as an
overseas player. In doing so he was the third overseas Asian cricketer to play
for Yorkshire following Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh, and was succeeded by
fellow Pakistani Inzamam.
On
his County Championship debut for Yorkshire, he made a disappointing 4 runs
from 4 balls in his first innings, being bowled by Rikki Clarke of Surrey, and
just 12 in his second innings.[12] However, on his one-day debut in the Friends
Provident Trophy, Younus hit a superb 100 from 92 balls against Nottinghamshire
to lead Yorkshire to victory.
He
made his first County Championship century, 106 off 151 balls, for Yorkshire
against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl in the third match of the season and
followed it up with an unbeaten double hundred, 202 off 290 balls, in the
second innings to steer Yorkshire to a confident declaration. In doing so,
Younus became the first Yorkshire player to score a century and a double
century in the same match. Younus also made a useful contribution bowling
during Hampshire’s second innings, picking up four wickets for just 52 runs,
however despite his and the team’s efforts the match ended in a draw.[14] He
repeated the feat of an unbeaten double century at Scarborough in a
rain-affected drawn match with Kent. He played a superb innings to finish on
217* off just 252 balls with 18 fours and 6 sixes. He left Yorkshire following
the 8-wicket drubbing of Glamorgan Dragons. However, the nature of the victory
denied him of the chance to sign off in a fitting matter as he was not required
to bat.
Playing
style
Younus
is regarded as one of the best players of spin bowling in the world, being
particularly strong on the leg side. His favourite and trademark shot is the
flick, but it has also been his shortcoming, with him being particularly prone
to falling lbw during the early stages of his innings. He is also prone to
getting down on one knee and driving extravagantly. But this flamboyance is
coupled with grit. One of his main weaknesses is playing away from the body, he
also has a tendency to leave straight balls, a trait that has been exploited by
bowlers in the past, particularly by the Australian attack. Along with Mohammad
Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq, he has formed a formidable middle order batting line
up for Pakistan.
Younus
is a skillful infielder, with a report prepared by Cricinfo in late 2005
showing that since the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he had effected the third
highest number of run-outs in ODI cricket (joint with Andrew Symonds), with the
highest success rate.
Younus Khan
Younus Khan
Younus Khan
Younus Khan
Younus Khan
Younus Khan
Younus Khan
Younus Khan
Younus Khan
Younus Khan
Younus Khan
