Mohammad Younis Khan PP SI (Urdu: ; Pashto: ; born 29 November 1977) is a Pakistani professional cricket coach and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team in all three formats of the game, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest middle-order batsmen in Test cricket. Khan is the only Test cricketer in the history of the game to score a century in all 11 countries that have hosted Test matches. Younis Khan was a member of the Pakistan cricket team that won the 2012 Asia Cup. Under his Captaincy Pakistan won the 2009 World Twenty20.
Younis holds the record for the most runs and the most centuries scored by a Pakistani in Test cricket. He is the third Pakistani player to score 300 or more runs in an innings. He is one of a handful of Test batsman in the world with a century conversion ratio of over 50 percent, with 34 centuries and 33 fifties. He led Pakistan to their victory in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, which was their first World Twenty20 title. On 23 April 2017, he became the first Pakistani and 13th batsmen ever to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket. He became the oldest and sixth fastest batsmen to reach the 10,000 run milestone in relation to innings played.
On 24 March 2010, Younis, along with teammate Mohammad Yousuf, was suspended from playing by the Pakistan Cricket Board following an inquiry report which suggested they were involved in breaches of discipline by inciting divisions within the team. The ban was lifted three months later. In a Test match against Australia beginning on 22 October 2014, Younis made his 25th and 26th centuries in the same match, becoming just the 6th Pakistani to do so. On 25 June 2015, Younis became the fifth Pakistani cricketer to play 100 Test matches and on 13 October 2015, he became Pakistan's highest run scorer in Test cricket, breaking Javed Miandad's record of 8,832 runs.
Younis retired from ODI cricket in November 2015. He retired from all forms of international cricket at the conclusion of the series against the West Indies in May 2017.
Personal life Younis married Amna on 30 March 2007. They have three children: two son and one daughter.
Younis had to deal with a number of deaths in his family during 2005 and 2006. In 2005, he had to fly back from a tour of Australia after his father died. Later in the year during England's tour to Pakistan, Younis' eldest brother, Mohammed Sharif Khan, who, in Younis's words, taught him how to play cricket, died aged 41 in a car accident in Ukraine. Another older brother, Farman Ali Khan was only 39 when he was killed in a car accident in Germany in December 2006.
Younis was batting in the second ODI against West Indies in Faisalabad when the news of his brother's death reached the team management. Younis only learned of the situation after he returned to the pavilion at the end of his innings. He immediately left for his hometown Mardan and did not participate in any of the remaining matches in that series.
Younis also mentioned his grief at the death of Bob Woolmer in March 2007 after Pakistan's exit from the World Cup. He stated that he saw Bob as a father figure after the loss of his own father and that he was able to share many personal thoughts with the cricket coach.
During a tour of the West Indies in May 2011, Younis was given permission to return home early due to the death of his elder brother Shamshad Khan in Germany.
He is known to enjoy fishing, when not playing cricket.
Domestic career
Australian first-class cricket
In 2008–09, Younis played for the Southern Redbacks in Australia's domestic circuit on a short-term basis. He scored a century against Queensland Bulls in the first innings of a Sheffield shield match in Brisbane, which helped the Redbacks to win their first Shield match for a year.
County cricket
In 2005, Younis 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.County Championship Division One, 2007 Season, Surrey v Yorkshire. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved on 7 May 2007. However, on his one-day debut in the Friends Provident Trophy, Younis hit a superb 100 from 92 balls against Nottinghamshire to lead Yorkshire to victory.Younus century shoots down Outlaws . Yorkshire CCC. Retrieved on 7 May 2007.
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, Younis became the first Yorkshire player to score a century and a double century in the same match. Younis 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.Younus top bowler, but Yorkshire lack final thrust . Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Retrieved on 7 May 2007. 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 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, Younis signed with the Indian Premier League and was drafted by the Rajasthan Royals for a bid of US$300,000. He however played only 1 match in the tournament against Kings XI Punjab and scored 1 run. He has not appeared in the IPL since.
Pakistan He contributed as a mentor for Peshawar Zalmi in the 2017 PSL season and the 2018 PSL season.
In July 2018, he resigned from his roles of both captain and player of the United Bank Limited cricket team, after the United Bank Limited company decided to disband the team.
International career
Younis Khan made his international debut in an ODI against Sri Lanka at Karachi in February 2000, and has since played over 250 ODIs for Pakistan. His Test debut came during the same tour in 2000 against Sri Lanka on 26 February 2000 and played in over 110 Test matches until retirement. Younis 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 team.
It was his return to the team in October 2004, at the pivotal one-down position, against Sri Lanka in Karachi that laid the groundwork for his emergence as a force in Pakistan cricket. Younis was the top run-getter in the disastrous 3–0 whitewash in Australia immediately after and on the tour of India, for which he was elevated as vice-captain. 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 that came off 504 balls in the first innings, to set up a series levelling victory in Bangalore.
Apart from being an accomplished batsman, Younis 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 the 3rd Test at Westpac Trust Park, Hamilton. He has performed particularly well on foreign grounds, including on tours of Australia, India, England and Sri Lanka. In the six Tests he has played against India, Younis averages an exceptional 106, the highest average against India by a Pakistani cricketer. Apart from his 267 at Bangalore, Younis 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 impressed many people. Also in 2006, Younis made a century in the third Test against England at Headingley. On 22 January 2007, he scored a matchwinning unbeaten 67 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. Younis reached the milestone in 87 innings, just one more than Sachin Tendulkar took.
For his performances in 2008, he was named in the World ODI XI by the ICC.
Younis 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. Younis 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
His ODI captaincy first came during West Indies touring third ODI on 22 May 2005, where Pakistan won the match by 22 runs and sealed the series 3–0. He first led Pakistan Test team against the same West Indies tour in 2005, where regular captain Inzamam was given one-Test ban for showing dissent against India. In September 2006, he was offered the position of captain for 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. In the series, Pakistan won only one match and lost two, thus quit from the series in the league as well.
Following the resignation of Inzamam after the Pakistan's exit from the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Khan was offered the captaincy on a permanent basis, but he turned it down. He blamed the angry reaction by the Pakistani public to the team's early exit from the tournament.
Younis led his team to the ICC World Twenty20 title for the first time by beating Sri Lanka at Lord's. After the match, he stated that that was his last international twenty20 appearance.
After Pakistan's 2–1 defeat to Sri Lanka in 2009, PCB chairman Ijaz Butt appointed Younis Khan as the permanent captain of both the Test and ODI teams. The appointment became effective as of 27 January 2009. Shortly after accepting the post, Younis 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." He also went on to say that he had an excellent relationship with former captain Shoaib Malik and expected his full support. Younis went on to say that he expected full support from former captain Shoaib Malik whom he called a senior player in the team.
Khan resigned as captain on 13 October 2009 due to a 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."