Opinion Counting on Younis
The 10,000-run mark is spectacular. But the cricketer has already blazed a quieter trail.
It was with a bit of reluctance, and only after he had scored his 10,000th Test run, that Younis Khan was finally extended the “great” title. It was not difficult to see why, especially in the Pakistani context, where greatness is always correlated with not just the body of work but also the persona. It was the magic of Wasim Akram, the charisma of Imran Khan, the bloody-mindedness of Javed Miandad, or the sheer eye-catchiness of Shahid Afridi that got them their cult status. Younis had none of these magnetic traits. He, and his batting, were more an acquired taste, one that will be missed when the 39-year-old skids down the sporting sunset at the end of the Caribbean series.
But sometime in his 18-year-old career, without anybody realising, he became indispensable for Pakistan cricket. When the team had plunged to the depths of trauma and tragedy, Younis remained the immovable force, taking everything with zen-like composure. He has seen it all — his teammates getting exposed in the spot-fixing scandals, the death of coach Bob Woolmer and the terrorist attacks that stopped all international cricket in his homeland. Younis remained unfazed, leading Pakistan to the T20 World Cup triumph and then becoming the blazing force in their ascent to the pinnacle of Test rankings.
Few other cricketers would have had the stoicism to plug away as prolifically as Younis, despite these setbacks. In a sense, it reflected his own batting style. The 10,000-run mark gives a roundedness to his Test career. But the true worth of Younis shouldn’t be weighed by the volume of runs but the times he hand-held Pakistan cricket when the lights went out.
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