Younis Khan, one of the most successful Test batsmen of modern era, needs 1186 runs to reach the milestone of 10,000 runs in Test cricket--an honour which has remained elusive for Pakistani cricketers.

Even such greats as Javed Miandad, Inzamam and Muhammad Yousuf could not achieve this. If typical Pakistani cricket politics did not create any hurdle in the near future, Younis would become the first Pakistani Test batsman to score 10,000.

If Younis achieved this landmark, those who do not give him due respect as one of the greatest batsman of the game would be silenced.

Younis is a leading century scorer in fourth innings when the situation is too difficult. He has scored five hundreds in the fourth innings of Test matches.

Scoring century in the fourth innings is always a very difficult task. Even players like Don Bradman, Viv Richards, Gavaskar, Lara, Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Allan Border and Ricky Ponting could not score five centuries in the fourth innings.

When Pakistan chased the biggest target (377) in their Test history against Sri Lanka recently, Younis’s contribution was 170. He came to the crease when the team had lost two wickets for 22 runs but he turned the game with Shan Masood. It was unbelievable!

Interestingly, Pakistan is the only old Test-playing team that has no player with 10,000 runs while India has three and Sri Lanka two.

Younis is looking almost a clear favourite to achieve this mark. That will be a proud moment not only for him but for the entire nation because that seems to be a great failure of Pakistan cricket, especially when two Sri Lankan batsmen have attained this.

There is a big debate going on over who is our greatest batsman in Test cricket: Miandad, Inzamam, Yusuf or Younis. If Younis reached this target, he may be declared the greatest Pakistani batsman.

Great experts of the game like Dean Jones, Laxman and Michael Vaughan have always paid great tribute to Younis.

During the memorable Test series against Australia in October 2014 he scored three consecutive centuries, equaling a 90-year-old record.

On this wonderful achievement there were lots of tributes from star players.

India’s Laxman stated: "One more 100 from Younis khan-3 in a row. Outstanding achievement from an outstanding batsman. One of the best I have played against."

England’s Vaughan said: "Younis Khan is a class act. Right up there with the best in this era oh, and we all love anyone who scores 100s against the Aussies."

Australia’s Dean Jones tweeted: "Is Younis Khan the greatest Pakistani batsman of all time? If not, how many more runs does he need to be the greatest?"

Pakistan’s Rameez Raja pointed out that Younis’ batting was not discussed in Pakistani drawing rooms as Minadad’s, Richards’, Lara’s or Tendulkar’s was.

It is pertinent to mention that Younis scored centuries during the toughest period of Pakistan’s cricket history. No foreign teams had been coming here for six years before Zimbabwe arrived to play three ODIs.

He always proved a rock during critical times. On a number of occasions he played a key role in victories over teams like Australia, England and Sri Lanka.

When he joins the club of batsmen who have scored over 10,000 runs, he will be regarded as one of the finest batsmen in the history of cricket. All those critics who want to remain on TV screens criticise him wrongly such as Shoaib Akhtar and Sikandar Bakht. They have no right to give expert opinion on the batting of such a player because they were fast bowlers in their careers.

Younis is known as a ‘Man of Crises’ because he has performed in the worst of circumstances. During the last five years it was either Younis or Misbah that took Pakistan out of crises. Younis has scored 8814 runs with 30 hundreds, including five double and one triple century. He is the only Pakistani to have scored century against all Test-playing nations. He has a brilliant average of 54.00 which shows his class. He is the best fielder in Pakistan cricket history, having grabbed 110 catches in Tests and 134 catches in ODIs.