A legend overtaken

In so many ways the towering six Pakistan’s star batsman Younis Khan hit over midwicket, off the bowling of spinner Moeen Ali, in the first Test against England in Abu Dhabi was uncharacteristic of a man known for his low-key approach to many things in life. The runs took him past Javed Miandad’s 22 year old record as Pakistan’s highest run scorer in Tests with 8,832 runs made in 124 games. With the same stroke, Younis also crossed Inzamamul Haq’s tally of 8,830 runs reached in 2007. Inzamam had been aiming for the record when he was dismissed two runs short of it in his final game against South Africa. In some ways it is always sad when records set by legends fall. But Younis Khan, who reached the figure in his 102nd Test match is a worthy successor. He has, since starting his international career in 2000 with an ODI against Sri Lanka, been one of Pakistan’s most consistent scorers – never as flamboyant as Shahid Afridi but with the technical skill, diversity of strokes and elegance that mark out truly great batsmen.
Younis Khan’s form in recent days has been superb, with an average of 80 runs. The record he has now broken could have come sooner had he, at the peak of his career – like other Pakistani cricketers of the same era – not been kept off the international playing fields for over a year following the 2009 Lahore attack on the visiting Sri Lankan team. The world record for the most runs in Test cricket lies with Sachin Tendulkar. His total of 15,921 runs amassed in 200 Tests is not likely to be surpassed for a very long time to come. But Khan has said he hopes to move closer to it by reaching the 10,000 run mark. He certainly has the talent to do so and we can only hope he will succeed as he moves towards the end of an illustrious career. Younis Khan has already left an indelible mark on the game which extends beyond the print of the record books and will remain written in thousands of memories in a cricket-crazy region.