Is Younis Khan Pakistan's best ever Test batsman?

[Chief Destroyer]

Never did I suggest he started out as a complete batsman. You're right in that Yousuf during his early stages moved across too much to gauge for the ball but that's expected playing on Pakistani wickets. He did correct it by 2005 and had much better alignment.

Again, you're assuming a lot of things here. I did not say Younis cashed in against the spinners. I said he capitalized once he fought off the new ball. During his prime, he was quite capable of putting the bad ball away when there was no lateral movement.

Now if you're gonna tell me Younis played the moving ball comfortably or better than Yousuf, I definitely will not agree. He's always been more vulnerable. Younis is a limited batsman and likes to feel bat on ball early. He's always shuffled far too much with the torso falling forward and poked like an amateur for as long as I can remember. Yousuf by 2005 had a far more organized game. I've never seen Younis well balanced moving forward or backward with authority against the moving ball because he was never confident of his offstump. He did settle down once it stopped moving.

Yousuf had a different problem because he was a natural strokemaker who didn't like leaving the ball(this does not mean he didn't leave the ball at all) too much and preferred to counter. Naturally, this would backfire or reward him depending on his day.

Anyway man, to each their own. I'm not interested in discussing this anymore. You can have your opinion.

 

[Bilal7]

I doubt a batsman struggling to average 40+ outside the subcontinent despite playing in a batsman friendly era would be called an ATG.

Really? Because as far as I know, Younis averages 40+ in Australia, England and New Zealand and has been a T-Rex in Asia. Of course, he's not at the level of Sachin but he's easily as good as, if not better than Dravid and Sangakkara.

No he is not , type of bowling attack should be taken in consideration. Inzy mainly played against Mcgrath, Warne , Lee Gillespie or Macgill and Khan is playing against Lyon or Sfk. Pitches are little bit more flat.

This is Younis, not Rahane. Don't tell me you think Younis debuted in 2012.

 

[Navdeep Srivastava]

Really? Because as far as I know, Younis averages 40 in Australia, England and New Zealand and has been a T-Rex in Asia. Of course, he's not at the level of Sachin but he's easily as good as, if not better than Dravid and Sangakkara.



This is Younis, not Rahane. Don't tell me you think Younis debuted in 2012.

Put it this way Australia never has the guts to give two average spinner and cartwright type bowler to Rahane, they always attack Rahane with full force.
As I said before Aussie have trolled you big time, now see younis playing another 1 year.

 

[New Yorker]

Never did I suggest he started out as a complete batsman. You're right in that Yousuf during his early stages moved across too much to gauge for the ball but that's expected playing on Pakistani wickets. He did correct it by 2005 and had much better alignment.

Again, you're assuming a lot of things here. I did not say Younis cashed in against the spinners. I said he capitalized once he fought off the new ball. During his prime, he was quite capable of putting the bad ball away when there was no lateral movement.

Now if you're gonna tell me Younis played the moving ball comfortably or better than Yousuf, I definitely will not agree. He's always been more vulnerable. Younis is a limited batsman and likes to feel bat on ball early. He's always shuffled far too much with the torso falling forward and poked like an amateur for as long as I can remember. Yousuf by 2005 had a far more organized game. I've never seen Younis well balanced moving forward or backward with authority against the moving ball because he was never confident of his offstump. He did settle down once it stopped moving.

Yousuf had a different problem because he was a natural strokemaker who didn't like leaving the ball(this does not mean he didn't leave the ball at all) too much and preferred to counter. Naturally, this would backfire or reward him depending on his day.

Anyway man, to each their own. I'm not interested in discussing this anymore. You can have your opinion.

The title read 'best' batsman, not 'prettiest.' I loved watching MoYo in full flow but he has scored fewer centuries, fewer double centuries, fewer centuries per Test, and less runs at a lower average than Younis. The less said about impact the better. What Younis did against India in 2005 and 2006 is nothing short of legendary.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

The title read 'best' batsman, not 'prettiest.' I loved watching MoYo in full flow but he has scored fewer centuries, fewer double centuries, fewer centuries per Test, and less runs at a lower average than Younis. The less said about impact the better. What Younis did against India in 2005 and 2006 is nothing short of legendary.

Always a good idea to understand the context.

 

[waleed88]

To be honest Inzamam is mentioned as a great ODI batsman, but he only has 10 100's to his name.. I'm pretty sure even a 3rd Tier Indian batsman, SA, Australian batsman has more 100's

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

The title read 'best' batsman, not 'prettiest.' I loved watching MoYo in full flow but he has scored fewer centuries, fewer double centuries, fewer centuries per Test, and less runs at a lower average than Younis. The less said about impact the better. What Younis did against India in 2005 and 2006 is nothing short of legendary.

Add to it 3rd inmings and 4th innings performances , contributions in Tests Pakistan won, and only 3 hundreds in dead rubbers out of 34.

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

Younis Khan

 

[Bilal7]

Put it this way Australia never has the guts to give two average spinner and cartwright type bowler to Rahane, they always attack Rahane with full force.
As I said before Aussie have trolled you big time, now see younis playing another 1 year.

Lol, dude. Don't even mention those two in the same sentence, it's idiotic. The only one getting trolled are Younis' haters because he just keeps raising his stock after every other series these days.

 

[Idli Vada]

Put it this way Australia never has the guts to give two average spinner and cartwright type bowler to Rahane, they always attack Rahane with full force.
As I said before Aussie have trolled you big time, now see younis playing another 1 year.

Forget Rahane, even Kohli is yet to match the achievements of Younis. Younis is not just a Pakistani ATG but a cricketing ATG - period (even if we were to exclude his magnificent Sydney century). As an Indian, I have admired Inzi, Younis and Misbah not just for their cricketing skills but for their on/off-field demeanour - thorough gentlemen (all of them)

 

[Bilal7]

Forget Rahane, even Kohli is yet to match the achievements of Younis. Younis is not just a Pakistani ATG but a cricketing ATG - period (even if we were to exclude his magnificent Sydney century). As an Indian, I have admired Inzi, Younis and Misbah not just for their cricketing skills but for their on/off-field demeanour - thorough gentlemen (all of them)

True words, my friend. Younis is no lesser than Sangakkara and Dravid; all three are legendary test match batsmen and it doesn't matter if you're Root, Kohli, Kane or Smith, matching them is going to take a hell of an effort.

 

[Snatch]

I'm sure most neutrals would say Miandad, I certainly would.

Younus Khan has seriously looked below club standard in New Zealand conditions. It's not always about a a low scoring series, but when any batsman looks quite as inept as Younus does on spicy green tracks, it'd be a bit of an insult to Pakistan cricket to say he's the best they've ever had.

He's certainly good at filling his boots when he gets conditions in his favour, but he's a walking wicket in anything that looks like it's good for pace bowlers.

 

[Idli Vada]

True words, my friend. Younis is no lesser than Sangakkara and Dravid; all three are legendary test match batsmen and it doesn't matter if you're Root, Kohli, Kane or Smith, matching them is going to take a hell of an effort.

Spot on Bilal. Younis is in the same league with other greats i.e. Sanga, Dravid and Kallis. Strange coincidence, this is also a league of gentlemen - all very nice chaps, who enhanced the glory of their respective countries.

 

[hussain123]

I think miandad is the best closely followed by younis khan.

 

[Navdeep Srivastava]

Lol, dude. Don't even mention those two in the same sentence, it's idiotic. The only one getting trolled are Younis' haters because he just keeps raising his stock after every other series these days.

Did I mentioned it?

 

[Navdeep Srivastava]

Forget Rahane, even Kohli is yet to match the achievements of Younis. Younis is not just a Pakistani ATG but a cricketing ATG - period (even if we were to exclude his magnificent Sydney century). As an Indian, I have admired Inzi, Younis and Misbah not just for their cricketing skills but for their on/off-field demeanour - thorough gentlemen (all of them)

I didn't brought Rahane or Kohli,and no younis is not atg, he is close like Amla but not atg. Javed and Inzy both were better and Moyo is equal to him.

 

[jusarrived]

The best Pak batsmen I have seen , I dont know how miandad was but he's had more impact than Inzy and definitely more than MoYo

 

[Ab Fan]

Really ? Apart from SA he has a very decent away record. Even Aus it's close to 40.

He is right up there next to Inzi and Miandad.

What are their avgs outside Asia?

I agree with last statement though maybe even at same level to Inzy. Both are clutch players unlike Moyo who was also mediocre in spinning conditions.

 

[shah_1]

^^Batting average In Aus/NZ/Eng for Inzi/Moyo/Younis

I'm not mentioning South Africa because all three average around the same(around 30).


Younis- 49.37
Mohammd Yousuf-45.80
Inzamam ul-Haq-42.89


Younis record in WI is shambolic, hopefully he can improve that next year.

 

[Ab Fan]

Batting average In Aus/NZ/Eng for Inzi/Moyo/Younis

I'm not mentioning South Africa because all three average around the same(around 30).


Younis- 49.37
Mohammd Yousuf-45.80
Inzamam ul-Haq-42.89

Should add WI too as all three faced the likes of Ambrose and Walsh in their career.Even Sangakkara faced them.

 

[todfod 11]

I dont know why some people over here in this forum moan about batsmen cant perform in NZ condition? I m from Nz they play rugby 9 months on the grounds they play cricket three mo ths of summers. the pitches are soft and grassy most of the time.. NZ is the worst country to play cricket with the wind addi ng to it.
its just the love for cricket which is keeping the game up in NZ otherwise it would have died ages ago.

 

[Idli Vada]

I didn't brought Rahane or Kohli,and no younis is not atg, he is close like Amla but not atg. Javed and Inzy both were better and Moyo is equal to him.

Maybe I misread your initial message. Based on what I have read on Cricinfo, Younis was tested by both Starc and Hazlewood initially after Babar Azam fell. When Rahane played in Sydney in Jan'15, the attack was similar with the exception of Cartwright as Ryan Harris was playing. Aussies do not usually give free/cheap runs. You have to give credit to Younis for this performance - imagine the pressure he was under after Melbourne.

On your second point as whether Younis is ATG or not, I suppose this is subjective issue. IMHO, he is a cricketing ATG - stats don't lie. If you consider any of these (Dravid/Sangakkara/Kallis) as ATG then Younis walks in this club easily. That is my point.

 

[Dead Ball]

^^Batting average In Aus/NZ/Eng for Inzi/Moyo/Younis

I'm not mentioning South Africa because all three average around the same(around 30).


Younis- 49.37
Mohammd Yousuf-45.80
Inzamam ul-Haq-42.89


Younis record in WI is shambolic, hopefully he can improve that next year.

Unfair comparison.

This Australia attack is one of the weakest in a long time. WI attack is a joke.
Inzamam faced (and was very successful against ) Walsh and Ambrose in WI. When Younis faced them, he averaged in single digits over 3 tests in his first tour there. Younis will definitely plunder some hundreds against WI trundlers, but we should go beyond comparing just numbers of these batsmen.

I respect Younis for his grit, and he has finally come good in this series albeit a bit too late. But people are going a bit overboard with this ÁTG' tag IMHO.

 

[shah_1]

Unfair comparison.

This Australia attack is one of the weakest in a long time. WI attack is a joke.
Inzamam faced (and was very successful against ) Walsh and Ambrose in WI. When Younis faced them, he averaged in single digits over 3 tests in his first tour there. Younis will definitely plunder some hundreds against WI trundlers, but we should go beyond comparing just numbers of these batsmen.

I respect Younis for his grit, and he has finally come good in this series albeit a bit too late. But people are going a bit overboard with this ÁTG' tag IMHO.

To be fair it was only Younis Khan second series of his career and first away tour, so again it will be unfair to compare Inzamam with Younis on basis of that tour

 

[Bilal7]

Unfair comparison.

This Australia attack is one of the weakest in a long time. WI attack is a joke.
Inzamam faced (and was very successful against ) Walsh and Ambrose in WI. When Younis faced them, he averaged in single digits over 3 tests in his first tour there. Younis will definitely plunder some hundreds against WI trundlers, but we should go beyond comparing just numbers of these batsmen.

I respect Younis for his grit, and he has finally come good in this series albeit a bit too late. But people are going a bit overboard with this ÁTG' tag IMHO.

Starc, Hazlewood, Bird and Lyon is a very good attack in Australian conditions. Much better than the attack than the likes of Sachin and Dravid plundered runs against in the 03-04 series.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

He is the greatest test batsmen to represent us at the Test Level, and I don't care what Javed Miandad did in the 80s....

Younis actually represents the greatest traits of the Common Pakistani, grit and the will to achieve objectives even with astounding hurdles in the path.

For all the Hoopla around our Titans of the 80s and 90s I don't see one batsman that can even remotely compete with the Stats that YK has amassed during his career.

I am telling you, we absolutely take the runs made by him for granted. The day he will retire, I will see who (Apart from Azhar maybe) holds up the batting and scores double tons in England and Australia.

Let's see what the 'Talented' Free Scoring Bunch we have at our disposal does in test cricket when there is no more Younis Khan in the lineup.

 

[Haz95]

He's still second best. I would put him on the league of someone like Chanderpual/Amla who are almost there but just aren't...It's not that he's a bad batsman, he's actually untested as a batsman...If he had played in 2010 we would have a clearer argument. It's similar to saying Barry Richards is the best ever batsman. Whether he was or not we shall never know simply because he lacks the feats and it's all based on subjectivity and hyperboles.

I do think he would've done well because scoring 200s and 100s in England/Aus well past your prime clearly indicates the ability but again, he has a severe lack of feats to put him in the bonafide ATG category.

To say he's a flat track bully however is absurd...

 

[Justcrazy]

Grit and determination wise Javed Miandad is best Pakistan has produced. Younis Comes second in this category.

Talent Wise , and shots range wise
Inzamam
Saeed Anwar
javed Miandad

 

[BouncerGuy]

On this day in 2009, the same year this guy won the T20 world cup for Pakistan, Younis Khan scored a fabulous triple-century against Sri Lanka in Karachi. What a fabulous inning it was. Definitely, he is the greatest test batter of Pakistan for me.

Nobody comes close to him when we talk about Red ball format.

 

[Ab Fan]

Second best after Miandad.

Inzy is third.

 

[Statpadder Inc]

Top 5 Pak test batsmen:
Miandad
younus
inzamam
saeed anwar
md. yousuf

 

[umarf76]

Top 5 Pak test batsmen:
Miandad
younus
inzamam
saeed anwar
md. yousuf

I think you cannot not have Zaheer Abbass in this. I think he comes in place of either Younis or Yousuf.
Zaheer was suspect against pace in the later half of his career but was a run machine in the earlier years.
The test purists will also want Hanif Mohammed.
Saeed Anwer was very talented but did not do justice to his talent and did have the longevity of others.
Younis was probably the hardest worker and one who improved with time but least talented.
The only without question marks is Javed.

 

[Statpadder Inc]

I think you cannot not have Zaheer Abbass in this. I think he comes in place of either Younis or Yousuf.
Zaheer was suspect against pace in the later half of his career but was a run machine in the earlier years.
The test purists will also want Hanif Mohammed.
Saeed Anwer was very talented but did not do justice to his talent and did have the longevity of others.
Younis was probably the hardest worker and one who improved with time but least talented.
The only without question marks is Javed.

younis and yousuf have a higher avg, more hundreds and more 50s than zaheer abbas, who only had a great record in eng.

anwar underachieved but still managed to avg 45 as an opener playing in the 90s, one of the hardest eras for batting.

younus wasnt talented and had his limitations but still managed to score 10k runs @52, along with 34 hundreds which is very impressive

 

[Cricket Warrior]

His stats say so but I think Yousuf was more consistent as a Test batter for Pakistan his technique was better than Younus.

 

[moghul]

Younus was king of the roads, very few runs he scored against better attack. Credit to his fitness and temperament , he used to score big against easy opposition and on road like wickets , hence > 10 K runs . I won't consider him among the top 5 batter Pakistan has produced. He is not even close to be selected in my all time Pakistan eleven .

 

[moghul]

His stats say so but I think Yousuf was more consistent as a Test batter for Pakistan his technique was better than Younus.

Yes, Yousuf was a far better batter than Yunus.

 

[moghul]

Top 5 Pak test batsmen:
Miandad
younus
inzamam
saeed anwar
md. yousuf

Hanif
Majid
Miandad
Zaheer
Inzi
Yousuf

 

[BouncerGuy]

Younis is praised because of his 10000 runs and those hundreds he scored in the 4th inning on some tough pitches. He is definitely among the top 5 test batters for Pakistan.

 

[Ab Fan]

Younis was a better pressure player than Yousuf. Both scored a lot of runs on flat decks vs weak bowling attack but former was clutch and hence better than latter.

Talking about skills purely, Younis was a magnificent player of spin but Yousuf played pace and swing better than Younis.

Top 5( in tests):-

1. Miandad
2. Younis
3. Inzamam
4. Yousuf
5. Anwar