GROUND REALITY

Younis Khan — a legend departing

The journey of Pakistan cricket has been a roller-coaster ride ever since the unfortunate terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in 2007 in Lahore. That day marked the closing of doors for international cricket in the country. To add insult to the injury, Pakistan team was embroiled in a scandal during its tour to England in 2010, when three players, including then captain Salman Butt, were exposed by a tabloid in a sting operation involving a bookie who had offered the players money to commit spot-fixing at Lord’s Test. The situation got worse when calls were made at the international forum to ban Pakistan for tarnishing the image of gentleman’s game.

At that time, Pakistan needed selfless characters in senior players, who could lead from the front and set an example of putting the country first, and refrain from indulging in corrupt practices that bring a bad name to the sport.

And rightly so, the baton was handed over to the most successful captain in the history of Pakistan cricket, Mishbah-ul-Haq, who through his valiant and dogged determination spurred the team to new heights and instilled an insatiable hunger that propelled them to number one ranking in Test cricket.

Besides Misbah, the most pivotal role was played by the most successful Pakistani batsman in Test cricket, Younis Khan, who had earlier led the country to the World T20 triumph in 2009 in England. He had been the cornerstone of the Test team after the departure of Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf. Many a times he was written off by the so-called critics who told him to hang up his bat, but Younis’s nerves of steel made him bounce back even stronger and he proved all his detractors wrong.

When you look at the career of Younis Khan, you may not find him as a gifted batsman, but someone who puts in extra efforts in training and does all the hard work required to leave an impression on the field. He has been so committed to his routine that it helped him cement his position in the top half of the Test batsmen rankings.

Maintaining a staggering average of almost 53 in Test cricket is not an easy task. Test cricket suits his style of play — he likes to take his time in adapting to the conditions and wait for the loose balls to rotate the strike. And when he gets going, it is a herculean job for the opposition to dismiss him.

His defence, stroke-making and shot-selection are pure treat for the spectators. Bowlers would try all their variations in an attempt to send him back to the pavilion, and Younis would frustrate them with his rock-solid temperament and mouth-watering display. It is so delightful to see him playing exquisite reverse sweeps and charging at the spin bowling.

Younis has been entirely different than his predecessors and team-mates who earned different cult statuses. He is grounded and leads a simple life. He never needed fame outside of cricket to reach the top.

His friendly attitude on the pitch makes cricket-lovers fall in love with him. His jaw-dropping catches at the slip draw a huge applause.

In the Test series against the West Indies, which is underway, after which he will bring down the curtain on a glorious career, Younis became the first Pakistani batsman to reach the 10,000 runs landmark when he reached 23 in the first Test at Sabina Park in the 208th innings of his career.  He is the sixth fastest among the 13 batsmen to have passed this milestone.

Just as he made everyone proud of his stellar accomplishment, he raised his arms with a broad smile on his face to a standing ovation from his team-mates and spectators.

He dedicated this feat to his family, especially his father, and the late Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, under whose tutelage Younis discovered his tenacity. “I credit this success and achievement to all my family members, especially my late father, my mother and the late Bob Woolmer, who always motivated me,” Younis said. “This is not just my achievement, this is for everyone in Pakistan, this is Pakistan’s achievement,” he added.

He had surpassed Javed Miandad’s 8832 in 2015 in Abu Dhabi against England.

With Misbah and Younis bidding farewell, the onerous task that lies ahead is for someone to step up to the plate and fill the gaping hole. It may take time but that’s what happened when the legends before them set a challenging stage for others after leaving the scene. And they assumed their roles with stoicism and dignity.

“In the last three four years, I have completely shared my life with the young players. I have told them how to maintain fitness. I haven’t done anything big on my fitness but 10-15 minutes in my daily routine. It’s a routine that I have kept simple but I have done it on a regular basis that it becomes a habit. Once you do something regular, it becomes your habit and things automatically fall in your way. So you have to create it and then you start performing in crisis because that is in your habit,” said Younis.

Besides smashing the most runs for Pakistan, he has also clobbered the most number of Test centuries (34) for the team.

He also holds the distinction of hitting a Test hundred in 11 countries that have hosted Test matches and he is the only player from Pakistan to score a century against all the Test-playing nations.

He made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2000 in Rawalpindi.

Younis made it to the Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year 2016 list for his indomitable double-hundred against England at Lord’s in 2016. He steered Pakistan to a series-levelling draw and helped in giving them a crack at the top Test ranking — before which he had an immense dip in form and had been struggling to live up to the expectations of a premier batsman that he has always been.

After being suckerpunched at the hands of the West Indies in the second Test, Pakistan team must have huddled up and vowed to give a fitting farewell to the two legends by going all out in the series decider and ending it on a winning note.

Younis will be sorely missed when he calls it quits at the conclusion of the Caribbean series.