Mohammad Younus Khan (born 29 November 1977) is a Pakistani cricketer and former 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, but they don’t listen." He is only the third Pakistani player to score 300 or more runs in an innings. Like Imran Khan, he is most remembered his leadership letting Pakistan win 2009 ICC World Twenty20.
On 10 March 2010, Younus, along with another player, Mohammad Yousuf were axed by the Pakistan Cricket Board from playing for Pakistan in any format for an indefinite period, following an inquiry report which suggested that both players were involved in breaches of discipline by inciting divisions within the team. The ban was overturned three months later. Presently Younus is a key member in the ODI and Test match side, by February 2012 Younus reached his 20th test match century against England.
Career
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. Once, Craig McMillan hit Younis for 26 runs, 4 4 4 4 6 4 in an over, a then world record, during 3rd Test at Westpac Trust Park, Hamilton. 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. 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.[9] 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 did not want to be a "dummy captain". However, on the morning of 7 October 2006 the Pakistan Cricket Board announced that Khan would lead his team in the tournament. 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 27 January 2009.[14] 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." Younus went on to say that he expects full support from former captain Shoaib Malik whom he called a senior player in the side.
Resignation from captaincy
Khan resigned as captain on 13 October 2009 due to an parliamentary investigation into match fixing that was alleged to have taken place during his reign. Despite being cleared in the investigation, Khan said "Yes I have submitted my resignation because I am disgusted by these match-fixing allegations made against me and the team."
Khan also dropped a catch of Grant Elliott in the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy semi-final. He had a hair-line fracture in his finger prior to the match. Later PCB Chairman requested Khan to take back his resignation and Khan did it under his conditions. However after captaining the team for a three-match series against New Zealand Younis took a break for test matches in New Zealand and the series in Australia the captaincy was given to Mohammad Yousuf and since then Younis has not captained the national team.
Post-captaincy: sacking, troubles and return (2010)
Younus's career after he gave up the captaincy continued on a downwards spiral as he was banned on 10 March 2010. Pakistan Cricket Board announced that Younus Khan had been banned indefinitely for "infighting which brought down the whole team during the tour of Australia in January". His ban was however overturned three months later in June 2010. Despite being cleared of any wrongdoing, Younus was not selected for the series against England. Pakistan continued to suffer frequent batting collapses against England in Test cricket; this put the Pakistan Cricket Board under pressure to restore Younus to the game, also Pakistani batsman and Test Captain Salman Butt was suspended on being involved in Spot-Fixing this resulted in several former captains including Moin Khan and Zaheer Abbas wanting Younus reinstated to the test team as captain. However the Pakistan Cricket Board did not clear Younis Khan for selection on the tours of South Africa in 2010 and despite being the first-choice captain for the selectors panel Mohsin Khan announced that Misbah-ul-Haq was recalled and made captain due to the PCB refusing to clear Younis Khan for selection.[20] Signs of an improvement in the relationship of the Pakistan Cricket Board and Younis Khan began to emerge after the board contacted Younis to potentially be selected for the tour Against South Africa in October 2010
On 31 August 2010, the Daily Telegraph in its news article mentioned that Younus Khan was associated with alleged match-fixer Mazhar Majeed, Younus threatened to sue the Daily Telegraph over the fact that they posted false information about Younus. The Daily Telegraph admitted that they incorrectly reported that Younus Khan was affiliated with Mazhar Majeed after a full public apology by the Daily Telegraph, Younus dropped the defamation charges against the newspaper The Pakistan Cricket Board subsequently announced that they had successfully reconciled with Younus Khan and that they intended to use him on the tour of South Africa in October 2010 as a replacement for the injured Mohammad Yousuf[23] On his comeback ODI against South Africa, Younus Khan scored 54 runs. Younus then confirmed a statement by Pakistan captain Rashid Latif that he had not apologised to the PCB for his actions. As he believed he had committed nothing wrong. He also stated that the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt did not ask Younus to apologise either. His on-field comeback went well when he scored 74 runs and anchored Pakistan's innings
Pakistan eventually won the fourth ODI against South Africa by 1 wicket. His first test match in over 12 months also went well when he scored a century in the second innings of the first test against South Africa this century along with a 168 run partnership with captain Misbah-ul-Haq allowed Pakistan to salvage a draw. Younus eventually finished unbeaten on 131 During this match he along with Misbah-ul-Haq led Pakistan to another feat by the end of his innings of 131 it became Pakistan's highest score of all time while batting in the fourth innings with Pakistan at 343/3.
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 Pakistani player Inzamam-ul-Haq.
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. 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.[32] 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.
He signed for Surrey for the 2010 season.
Indian Premier League
In 2008 Younus signed with the Indian Premier League and was drafted by the Rajasthan Royals for a bid of $225,000 USD. He however played only 1 match in the tournament against Kings XI Punjab and scored 1 run. Younus Khan has not appeared in the IPL since.
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 the now retired Inzamam-ul-Haq, he 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.
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