Prolific Younis wants to be remembered as 'team man'
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ABU DHABI: Team-man not greatness is what Younis Khan wants to be remembered for in Pakistan's cricket history after his epic double hundred in the second Test against Australia in Abu Dhabi on Friday.
Younis cracked a magnificent 213 to guide Pakistan to an imperious 570-6 declared in their first innings, leaving them in a strong position for their first series win over Australia in 20 years after winning the first Test by 221 runs in Dubai.
At close on the second day Australia were 22-1, trailing by 548 runs.
Younis completed his 8,000 Test runs during the knock, third behind his illustrious countryman Javed Miandad (8832) and Inzamam-ul Haq (8829).
In all 28 batsmen have scored 8,000 or more runs in Tests with India's Sachin Tendulkar (15,921) on top. Younis is now Pakistan's highest Test centurion with 27.
During his 181-run fourth wicket stand with Misbah-ul Haq (101) he became the highest century partnership maker with his skipper on 11, beating the pairs of Miandad and Mudassar Nazar and Inzamam and Mohammad Yousuf who had ten stands of over 100.
Younis said he still wasn't among the greats of Pakistan cricket.
“I am not great .. like Javed, Inzamam, Yousuf or Hanif Mohammad. I can't compare myself with them,” Younis said after the day's play.
“The era I am playing in is easy for me compared to theirs. I want to be remembered as a team-man who loves to serve and his performance makes his country proud and win."
Younis wants his team inflict a whitewash on Australia.
“Obviously when you score runs and contribute a lot in the game you want the team to win comprehensively so I have a desire that we manage to pull a whitewash. But it isn't easy for us, we still have to put the hard work in as despite the fact we have good spinners Australia have been in such situations more than once and it's a familiar case for them."
Younis admitted it was tough to overcome the disappointment of being axed from the preceding one-day series, which Pakistan lost 3-0.
“I can't explain how I spent that particular week as my family and friends were all tense and they were all wondering what I am going to do,” said Younis.
“They were afraid I might retire or something. But that one week was the major cause of motivation for me."
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On DawnNews
Comments (41) Closed
Oct 31, 2014 08:43pm
your performance speaks for itself
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Oct 31, 2014 08:46pm
Tremendous knock. Congrats Younis.
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Oct 31, 2014 08:55pm
We should remember his performance,,when he will out of form.
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Oct 31, 2014 08:59pm
Smart and humble man who is willing to praise his great predecessors.
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Oct 31, 2014 09:00pm
Retire!?!?
Thank you for choosing not to.
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Oct 31, 2014 09:03pm
Well done Younis bahi you have done us all proud. I think most of Pakistanis were shocked and very angry when we found out that the contract you were handed was a b contract. I hope they review this asap and if they don't then it would be every Pakistanis lost for not taking care of our heroes. It shows that when you go out to win then there is always a chance and on the way if you lose then its O.K but if you go out just to survive then theres a good chance you would lose. Well done guys and even Misbah played better this time so please carry on.
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Oct 31, 2014 09:04pm
True humble and gentleman.
Cheers, peace
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Oct 31, 2014 09:08pm
Great person with humble personality. He is true Khan.
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Oct 31, 2014 09:30pm
Such a humbleness and greatness can only come from you. I salute you Younis bhai and love you. Keep up the great work. Inshallah more records to be seen from you.
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Oct 31, 2014 10:05pm
Younis is another KHAN produced by Pakistan. He has now become a record breaking machine .While playing for his motherland sincerely records simply follow him. As a Sri Lankan my desire is to see Insha Allah that YK score 10000 test runs as your neighbor Mahela and Sangakara have scored. Inzi missed it due to reasons best known to PCB.
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Oct 31, 2014 10:07pm
FANTISTIC performance. You make us proud.
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Oct 31, 2014 10:30pm
Let your bat speak for itself Younis.
You are certainly one of the greatest, and your humbleness makes you stand out in the crowd.
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Oct 31, 2014 11:11pm
Humble like Dravid. Great job Younis.
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Oct 31, 2014 11:17pm
Dirty Politics and corruption has not only damaged the country but destroyed our sports too, yet every now and then on rare occasions you see gems like Younis emerging out tearing apart the shroud of darkness and against all odds they humbly shine gleaming with unmatched patriotism and pride, giving hope to millions of fellow Pakistanis that one day maybe merit will rule and the immense talent that this country boasts, will be showcased on the world stage openly and freely for the world to admire, one day IA Pakistan Zindabad!!
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Oct 31, 2014 11:25pm
I like his assessment that this test match is not over by any means. Australia is a tough team and they will fight till the end.
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Oct 31, 2014 11:47pm
You are a great human being... Cricket world is proud of you .. Gold Bless You Sir.
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Oct 31, 2014 11:56pm
He sounds like a real gentleman for which, cricket has scarcity these days. Congratulations and good luck for the rest of the match and series.
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Nov 01, 2014 12:16am
A great man .Humble, focussed and thorough gentleman. Thats what we need from our heroes
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Nov 01, 2014 01:37am
He was inspired by that one week of lay-off.... let's see who else needs that kind of break ... may be our politicians :)
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Nov 01, 2014 01:50am
@IrfanUK
Who ever offered Younis a b-contract should be thrown out of cricket world.
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Nov 01, 2014 02:11am
While not belittling his performance here, I wish to raise some questions about the pitch and ground conditions. Is it spin friendly or pace friendly? Is there seam and swing movement? Is there bounce? If the answer to these questions tends towards to 'spin friendly dead pitch' then, isn't it same as what Pakistanis often accuse Indians of being 'flat track bullies'?
How come Johnson who massacred the English team just a few months ago now suddenly became impotent? Would YK be able to repeat the same feats down under? or is this a one time performance on a passive pitch? All these are genuine questions and the purpose is not to incite hatred and animosity. Answer if you can.
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Nov 01, 2014 03:11am
what a humble, an outstanding player, and young man who love his country- we love you. Younis your country needed this news for some time and you had delivererd.
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Nov 01, 2014 03:14am
@Ravi Dallas TX , Ravi thanks for you kind words and sharing this good time with us!!
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Nov 01, 2014 04:04am
I highly appreciate that Younis has a team mindset. It is the teamwork that can produce overall great results not a century or two or few brilliant strokes here and there. Keep up your good work Younis Khan. You are getting there.
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Nov 01, 2014 05:25am
@Sudhakar - You have preconceived all the answers in your mind. Why are you asking?
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Nov 01, 2014 06:26am
@Sudhakar Not much different record than indian batting greats who piled up runs at home but failed miserably under testing conditions
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Nov 01, 2014 06:31am
PCB and selectors did their best to force a retirement to create space in the middle for near and dear. Offered him a B contract then dropped him from ODI team. Idea was to hurt a pathan so that he retires( BCCI did this to Laxman, he did retire right away rather then follow BCCI). YK almost did retire but may have been persuaded by others not to. He is the best Batsman Pakistan team has similar to Amla for SA. Even SA uses Amla in ODIs for stability in up order. YK did great job in T20 WC in 2009, won it for the country as captain. Only negative was WC in Delhi game in semi where he dropped one four catches of Tandulkar then slow scoring of Misbah made sure that Indian wins it. That game it seems other Shahid Afridi everyone else was playing for India. Comments from Rahman Malik/Gilani may have things to do here. But that game will remain blot on the whole tea,
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Nov 01, 2014 06:52am
@Sudhakar Hi you have raised some valid questions and also open a pandora box. First of all a spin friendly pitch isn't a dead pitch. If a pitch can be pace friendly why can't it be spin friendly. The other thing is why many people in the subcontinent are western apologists and suffer from slave mentality. Younus will remain one of the greats of the game regardless he performs with such consistency or not. I think Younus has played maybe only 3 tests in Australia but he is good enough to score a century over there. He already has centuries in South Africa. Also why Johnson couldn't take wickets on unfriendly pitches. Didn't Imran, Wasim, Waqar destroyed batting lineups on similar pitches. Why Lillee, Thompson, Botham, Ponting are considered greats inspite of having poor records in the sub continent.
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Nov 01, 2014 07:01am
@Sudhakar Records made by Sachin and Dravid were mostly on passive pitches.Lets praise these stars for their achievements. The same pitches are available to all the batsmen.
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Nov 01, 2014 07:02am
Younis will easily go down in the history of Pakistan cricket as one of the greatest batsman and ambassador to represent the country on a sporting field. Whether he is the greatest is subjective and will be a continuous debate. If only a quarter of the Pakistani population conducts themselves in their respective fields like him, Pakistan will have a great reputation in the world.
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Nov 01, 2014 07:36am
@Sudhakar , you are asking the questions from the Dawn's reader whether he can do this or that in their home turf,aren't you?What a silly question you are asking. Of course he can.He is on fire,didn't you see his performance? I see some jealousy in your question.
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Nov 01, 2014 07:38am
@Sudhakar Simple answer Mr Sudhakar. It is the same pitch for the both the teams and all the players. If it helps Younis then it should help all players. Johnson is a great bowler but horses for courses. Steyn created havoc on the same "dead pitch". A great bowler can produce result in all kinds of pitches just not just bouncy pitches. Australian batsman will play on the same "dead" pitch and face newbie bowlers like Imran Khan(not the legend) and Rahat and Yasir and Babar. So what is the problem?
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Nov 01, 2014 08:32am
Outstanding performance Younis ! It was a treat watching your innings
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Nov 01, 2014 11:28am
He Such a Humble and Content person. His Character is and may be an example to other sportsmen
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Nov 01, 2014 11:39am
This TB of Cricket with gambling has eroded our generations . It must be eradicated
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Nov 01, 2014 11:51am
Someone has bat to speak for themselves and someone got only a bigger mouth.
Younis and Misbah both are the most underrated legends of the cricket. The unsung heroes of Pakistan.
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Nov 01, 2014 12:53pm
@Sudhakar they say that you never judge a pitch until both sides have batted. Australia 100 for 5 and 3 out of the 5 wickets have gone to pacers. Any more questions?
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Nov 01, 2014 12:59pm
Here is a unique chance for younus to make 4 centuries against Australia.This type of chance may not come again. He is in form against this team. If I was misbah I would bat a second inning . Give younus this rare chance. Other teams have batted in the past instead of follow on. Chance like this may not come in future.
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Nov 01, 2014 01:46pm
@Sudhakar learn to appreciate my friend.
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Nov 01, 2014 02:08pm
Well played Younis Khan on & off the pitch. Team management specially the selectors should be thankful to Younis for saving their necks once again. Now for God sake learn some lessons from this series and keep your bias & egos by the side and think of national interest for once, instead of personal survival !!!
Where are Younis Khan's critics? Come out buddies & face the music. OH sorry I forgot you lot are gutless.
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Nov 02, 2014 06:09am
We are really enjoying your performances; Congratulations!!!YK must aims for consistence runs.
Thank you!!!
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