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Younis Khan vs AB de Villiers - Better Test batsman?

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tanveer din

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Who would be your pick to be the better test batsman? I will go with Ab de villers because Younis khan is failure outside UAE....
 
Both are good , but prime younis batting at Ab position is much better batsman.
ABD had a much higher ceiling, he has a great talent but he underachieved big time but till average over 50 after 106 test .
 
Tough one.

However, both are superior batsmen to Cook who has never scored against quality bowling attacks.
 
ABDV's a better batsman in UAE than Younis Khan (ABDV averages 137 in UAE!).

He's also a better T20 batsman and ODI batsman.

However ABDV is pretty awful in England, NZ and India (averages in 30s), awful in Srilanka (averages in the 20s) and averages only 44 in Australia.
 
I dont rate both but Ill take AB by a shade because Younis is kind of useless outside Asia while AB can still make it count once in a while.

Both are extremely overrated.
 
TestMatch said:
ABDV's a better batsman in UAE than Younis Khan (ABDV averages 137 in UAE!).

He's also a better T20 batsman and ODI batsman.

However ABDV is pretty awful in England, NZ and India (averages in 30s), awful in Srilanka (averages in the 20s) and averages only 44 in Australia.
Click to expand...
You've got the wrong player lol.
 
TestMatch said:
ABDV's a better batsman in UAE than Younis Khan (ABDV averages 137 in UAE!).

He's also a better T20 batsman and ODI batsman.

However ABDV is pretty awful in England, NZ and India (averages in 30s), awful in Srilanka (averages in the 20s) and averages only 44 in Australia.
Click to expand...

ab.jpg
 
YK is good on flat wickets, ABDV is a far superior all round batsman, no comparison.
 
Dr_Bassim said:
Make an innings of substance.

Younis Khan is good as an FTB as they come but outside Asia he is zilch.
Click to expand...

217* in India to setup a win.

174 at Leeds in prime swinging conditions.

106 in the Perth 41 chase.

278 and 164 in UAE. The second one was more impressive because SA were 1-0 down after being comprehensively beaten. Along with Smith, he completely batted Pakistan out of the game. This was against prime Ajmal.

116 against a rampant Johnson in SA to setup their only victory.

Numerous stonewalling efforts.

Have you watched any of them?
 
AB can do whatever YK can do, but reverse is not true.

YK outside Asia averages 38 against non-minnows.
AB in Asia averages 56 against non-minnows.

YK in UAE averages 55.
AB in UAE averages 100+ with 500+ runs.
 
Chief Destroyer said:
217* in India to setup a win.

174 at Leeds in prime swinging conditions.

106 in the Perth 41 chase.

278 and 164 in UAE. The second one was more impressive because SA were 1-0 down after being comprehensively beaten. Along with Smith, he completely batted Pakistan out of the game. This was against prime Ajmal.

116 against a rampant Johnson in SA to setup their only victory.

Numerous stonewalling efforts.

Have you watched any of them?
Click to expand...

Only 174 in Leeds is worth in my opinion.

I already know his abilities as an Asian batsmen.

I dont think you would be wrong to call him better than AB though because i also dont believe AB is million times better. Just shades it for me, and you wouldnt be wrong in picking it the other way.
 
Dr_Bassim said:
Only 174 in Leeds is worth in my opinion.

I already know his abilities as an Asian batsmen.

I dont think you would be wrong to call him better than AB though because i also dont believe AB is million times better. Just shades it for me, and you wouldnt be wrong in picking it the other way.
Click to expand...

He is talking about AB here.
 
Younis khan... that's not even a fair comparison, ABdv is currently good for t20 leagues around the world.
 
AB. He is better than what his stats suggest. If he was playing his home matches in Asia/Australia/NZ, he would probably average around 54-55.

And Younis is brilliant against spin. AB isn't bad himself. But there is a HUGEEEE difference in how both of them play quality pace. AB looks comfortable against any pace, Younis definitely did not. And I don't think Younis is as good a player as his stats suggest.
 
Obviously YK. Brad man is lucky not to be born in the same era of YK
Best batsman in world
YK
Daylight
Mars
Jupiter
Brad man
Sachin
Ab
 
I am a Pak fan but AB is better

Ab is better vs spin than YK is vs pace. YK was a great test player, but he was limited vs pace. His strategy of blocking out pacers and then attacking spinners works well, but if you were to pick YK in the test team of the decade, his strategy would not work as well. It only works when the other team has one or two good spinners. If the other team has 3-4 high quality pacers, then that strategy becomes less effective.

AB is better on seaming wickets. AB wins this one.
 
ABD is better as a player. He plays very well against pace and he is not that bad against spin either. Also ABD can bat aggressively and dead bat for a long time as well if needed. So he is a versatile test player.
 
AB is not a great test bat in my opinion. He is good, but lacks the stature of a test great. Younus is much better in tests
 
I do agree that Younis is a great great test player but here I will pick AB.

IMO, he is a brilliant test batsmen. He is one of the most consistent performers of his era. He is clutch(in tests) and scores runs when matters i.e. whether it was long back in Perth 2008 or Adelaide 2012 or even in PE 2018. None of these series would have been won by SA if not for these innings.

Against the best team in the world and the team that matters the most, Australia, he has got the best record by any South African. Australia always used to thrash SA home and away but it changed in Smith captaincy and since then, both Amla and de Villiers have taken SA to different heights, Amla being more influential in tests while ABD in Odis.

He has proved his worth in subcontinent too by scoring two double hundreds in two major SC countries, India and Pakistan along with being the player of the series in the UAE 2014 tour against the peak Ajmal. In extreme swinging conditions, his 174 at Headingley was no less than a masterclass.

Averages and number of tons are what, really nothing. Stats don't capture the greatness of the player, it will never be. He is an ATG without fail. Younis is brilliant too though. I have great respect for him too.
 
Ab Fan said:
I do agree that Younis is a great great test player but here I will pick AB.

IMO, he is a brilliant test batsmen. He is one of the most consistent performers of his era. He is clutch(in tests) and scores runs when matters i.e. whether it was long back in Perth 2008 or Adelaide 2012 or even in PE 2018. None of these series would have been won by SA if not for these innings.

Against the best team in the world and the team that matters the most, Australia, he has got the best record by any South African. Australia always used to thrash SA home and away but it changed in Smith captaincy and since then, both Amla and de Villiers have taken SA to different heights, Amla being more influential in tests while ABD in Odis.

He has proved his worth in subcontinent too by scoring two double hundreds in two major SC countries, India and Pakistan along with being the player of the series in the UAE 2014 tour against the peak Ajmal. In extreme swinging conditions, his 174 at Headingley was no less than a masterclass.

Averages and number of tons are what, really nothing. Stats don't capture the greatness of the player, it will never be. He is an ATG without fail. Younis is brilliant too though. I have great respect for him too.
Click to expand...

+1. Good post.
 
Younus. AB has recently shown serious ability on tough decks to score quickly when others look pedestrian, but he doesn't match the consistency and mental grit of Younus.
 
I would pick Younis Khan because he has had to bat with so many relying on him and Misbah as there were many passengers, in and out of our side. So even though people hate on him for scoring runs in UAE, he still has a 40+ average everywhere apart from WI and SA. Not to mention scoring runs anywhere is tough when you lose early wickets and the whole team is always relying on you.
 
I would go with YK but probably bias there due to me being Pakistani
 
Ab Fan said:
I do agree that Younis is a great great test player but here I will pick AB.

IMO, he is a brilliant test batsmen. He is one of the most consistent performers of his era. He is clutch(in tests) and scores runs when matters i.e. whether it was long back in Perth 2008 or Adelaide 2012 or even in PE 2018. None of these series would have been won by SA if not for these innings.

Against the best team in the world and the team that matters the most, Australia, he has got the best record by any South African. Australia always used to thrash SA home and away but it changed in Smith captaincy and since then, both Amla and de Villiers have taken SA to different heights, Amla being more influential in tests while ABD in Odis.

He has proved his worth in subcontinent too by scoring two double hundreds in two major SC countries, India and Pakistan along with being the player of the series in the UAE 2014 tour against the peak Ajmal. In extreme swinging conditions, his 174 at Headingley was no less than a masterclass.

Averages and number of tons are what, really nothing. Stats don't capture the greatness of the player, it will never be. He is an ATG without fail. Younis is brilliant too though. I have great respect for him too.
Click to expand...

Please spare some time in digging stats too before analysing the two players ‘careers . How a player having 1300 hundred less scores ,12 centuries less in almost identical no of matches can be better than the player with above mentioned qualities . Ab can only dream of Yunus ‘ 4 th innings heroics . Ab has only hundred in 4 th innings .Ab has clearly 2 points less average than Yunus ( last year clearly dented Yunus’s average , fell from 54 to 52).Yunus has Century in 11 countries , and a lot of records . Saying Ab better than Yunus can only be one ‘s only personal bias but factually not true .Ab is more a flamboyant typo player. In that sense , many would say Lara is clearly superior to tendu although lara has less centuries , score and average but more flamboyance .
P.s Ajmal of 2014 was well past his prime , had become very predictable with his doosra , was outplayed by herath in the sirilanka series (aug 2014).
 
Godhelpma said:
Please spare some time in digging stats too before analysing the two players ‘careers . <B>How a player having 1300 hundred less scores ,12 centuries less in almost identical no of matches can be better than the player with above mentioned qualities .</B>Ab can only dream of Yunus ‘ 4 th innings heroics . Ab has only hundred in 4 th innings .Ab has clearly 2 points less average than Yunus ( last year clearly dented Yunus’s average , fell from 54 to 52).Yunus has Century in 11 countries , and a lot of records . Saying Ab better than Yunus can only be one ‘s only personal bias but factually not true .Ab is more a flamboyant typo player. In that sense , many would say Lara is clearly superior to tendu although lara has less centuries , score and average but more flamboyance .
P.s Ajmal of 2014 was well past his prime , had become very predictable with his doosra , was outplayed by herath in the sirilanka series (aug 2014).
Click to expand...

This is why Stats are never enough to capture a player's career. After 2006, Younis had the luxury of playing most of his games in lifeless UAE pitches. I dont think there should be any question on accepting the fact that Younis had huge troubles against quality pace bowling and if he had to tour everywhere on a consistent basis like Saffers, Indian and England players do, his numbers would have been clearly lesser than what his stats suggest.

Now I do agree that Younis is brilliant in the 4th inning and not many players come to that heroic. However, de Villiers has done very well in 4th inning itself. While his inning at Perth is very famous, his hundred against India at Johannesburg 2014 while chasing 458 came in 4th inning only. They came close to winning but nevertheless he saved the match. Then one of his best knocks, Adelaide 2012, came in 4th inning. What if he scored 33 only? It was better than many of his hundreds. So, Younis 4th inning heroic isn't enough to put him ahead.

Younis cant play the inning which AB played at Centurion 2014, Cape town 2018(vs India) or Port Elizabeth 2018. Neither can he play counter-attacking inning like the one in Cape town(2009) or Perth(2012).

However, I myself rate Younis very highly. He scores big and scores when it matters but misses out to someone who has got outrageous and complete skills like ABD or KP. However, I will put him ahead of everyone else from his contemporaries barring these two.
 
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I will go with Younus Khan because he is an ATG for me and the next best batsmen in tests after Sangakkara. AB is excellent but YK it is.
 
babajee said:
Is YK not an ATG?
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It is a marginal case and up for debate. The doubts come from his ability to handle lateral movement from the pacers and this is reinforced further by the fact he missed 2 big tours (Aus 2009 and England 2010). The other factor is he cashed in on easy runs in the UAE and you don't exactly have to be an ATG to score big and quickly over there. This is what the critics say who make fair points but those in favour with the ATG claim also have a strong case as well.
 
Yk any day, any week, any month, any year, any decade, any century over ABD.

i dont know if above sentence is grammatically correct :(
 
YK on flatter (slow and fast surfaces) and turning wickets because of his high rate of 50 -> 100 conversions and ability to score big hundreds (150+ scores) on these type of wickets. YK is an ATG player of spin whereas AB is world class.

AB in SA and other green ( and swinging) tracks is perhaps as good as anyone in the game as not only could he consistently score runs, he could also score briskly while YK wasn't even half as good in these conditions.

Overall - YK slightly but AB will be rated among the writers and pundits higher because he has played more quality knocks in Australia and England (but no surprise here due to more games), and the weight of these runs are perceived more prestigious. Also among the same reviewers runs in SA are deemed far more valuable than runs in Asia particularly compared to the most flattest wickets of all time - Pakistan and UAE! Some of their criteria I agree but one feels they do negate runs in the SC generally.
 
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Apart from his quality against spin, Younis was a substandard batsman, and comfortably below Miandad, Inzamam, Saeed, MoYo, Zaheer, Majid, Hanif and Saleem Malik.

He was a sitting duck against lateral movement throughout his career, and due to a lack of array of strokes, he never managed to dominate fast bowling. For the same reasons, he failed in Limited Overs cricket.

However, he is mentally the toughest batsman we have produced alongside Miandad. He was tough as nails, and his mentality forced him (statistically) into the league of the greatest batsmen to have played the game. Talent wise, he was nowhere near good enough to average 50+, score 10k runs and over 30 tons.

Nonetheless, he is not close to ATG status. He does not have a legacy as a batsman outside Pakistan, and simply did not manage to dominate a series outside Asia.

He had a golden chance of cementing his legacy in 2016, but he failed in 14 out of the 17 innings that he played in England, Australia and New Zealand, and was not able to enhance his legacy.

As far as de Villiers is concerned, he has had an underwhelming Test career considering his incredible talent. The way he has shown responsibility in the last two years is something he should have done years ago, but he decided to chicken out for couple of years.

He is leagues above Younis as a batsman and his best performances trump Younis', but his lack of hundreds count against him. Flat pitches, weak opposition aside, Younis had a tremendous appetite for scoring hundreds.

de Villiers will have to score 12 hundreds in the next 22 innings to match him on that front.

Who I would have in my team depends on the team composition. Younis is a better fit for a weak lineup, because he pretty much guarantees a big hundred once in a while, and is hard to dismiss cheaply once he is set.

On the other hand, de Villiers will throw his wicket away frequently, but he is an all-condition batsmen who can change the game with a quick-fire 60 or 70. He is a luxury that a strong batting lineup can afford.
 
AB is not my cup of tea, but is ahead of YK comfortably too. You don't average 50 away and be a mug with the bat. He was part of the original big four.

However he needs to continue winning matches though.
 
Mamoon said:
Apart from his quality against spin, Younis was a substandard batsman, and comfortably below Miandad, Inzamam, Saeed, MoYo, Zaheer, Majid, Hanif and Saleem Malik.

He was a sitting duck against lateral movement throughout his career, and due to a lack of array of strokes, he never managed to dominate fast bowling. For the same reasons, he failed in Limited Overs cricket.

However, he is mentally the toughest batsman we have produced alongside Miandad. He was tough as nails, and his mentality forced him (statistically) into the league of the greatest batsmen to have played the game. Talent wise, he was nowhere near good enough to average 50+, score 10k runs and over 30 tons.

Nonetheless, he is not close to ATG status. He does not have a legacy as a batsman outside Pakistan, and simply did not manage to dominate a series outside Asia.

He had a golden chance of cementing his legacy in 2016, but he failed in 14 out of the 17 innings that he played in England, Australia and New Zealand, and was not able to enhance his legacy.

As far as de Villiers is concerned, he has had an underwhelming Test career considering his incredible talent. The way he has shown responsibility in the last two years is something he should have done years ago, but he decided to chicken out for couple of years.

He is leagues above Younis as a batsman and his best performances trump Younis', but his lack of hundreds count against him. Flat pitches, weak opposition aside, Younis had a tremendous appetite for scoring hundreds.

de Villiers will have to score 12 hundreds in the next 22 innings to match him on that front.

Who I would have in my team depends on the team composition. Younis is a better fit for a weak lineup, because he pretty much guarantees a big hundred once in a while, and is hard to dismiss cheaply once he is set.

On the other hand, de Villiers will throw his wicket away frequently, but he is an all-condition batsmen who can change the game with a quick-fire 60 or 70. He is a luxury that a strong batting lineup can afford.
Click to expand...

chicken out? Lol. He had injuries and needed time to recuperate. The fact that he took on the most dangerous fast bowling attack in the world in Aus recently at age 34 and succeeded shows that he is among the toughest guys out there. The words chicken out should not be used in the same sentence as AB
 
hk031992 said:
chicken out? Lol. He had injuries and needed time to recuperate. The fact that he took on the most dangerous fast bowling attack in the world in Aus recently at age 34 and succeeded shows that he is among the toughest guys out there. The words chicken out should not be used in the same sentence as AB
Click to expand...

Lol he was more like 44 but yes your point still stands performed well on his last legs as a veteran.
 
Mamoon said:
Apart from his quality against spin, Younis was a substandard batsman, and comfortably below Miandad, Inzamam, Saeed, MoYo, Zaheer, Majid, Hanif and Saleem Malik.

He was a sitting duck against lateral movement throughout his career, and due to a lack of array of strokes, he never managed to dominate fast bowling. For the same reasons, he failed in Limited Overs cricket.

However, he is mentally the toughest batsman we have produced alongside Miandad. He was tough as nails, and his mentality forced him (statistically) into the league of the greatest batsmen to have played the game. Talent wise, he was nowhere near good enough to average 50+, score 10k runs and over 30 tons.

Nonetheless, he is not close to ATG status. He does not have a legacy as a batsman outside Pakistan, and simply did not manage to dominate a series outside Asia.

He had a golden chance of cementing his legacy in 2016, but he failed in 14 out of the 17 innings that he played in England, Australia and New Zealand, and was not able to enhance his legacy.

As far as de Villiers is concerned, he has had an underwhelming Test career considering his incredible talent. The way he has shown responsibility in the last two years is something he should have done years ago, but he decided to chicken out for couple of years.

He is leagues above Younis as a batsman and his best performances trump Younis', but his lack of hundreds count against him. Flat pitches, weak opposition aside, Younis had a tremendous appetite for scoring hundreds.

de Villiers will have to score 12 hundreds in the next 22 innings to match him on that front.

Who I would have in my team depends on the team composition. Younis is a better fit for a weak lineup, because he pretty much guarantees a big hundred once in a while, and is hard to dismiss cheaply once he is set.

On the other hand, de Villiers will throw his wicket away frequently, but he is an all-condition batsmen who can change the game with a quick-fire 60 or 70. He is a luxury that a strong batting lineup can afford.
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Opening line is very harsh but this is analysis of YK and AB is on point.
 
I'd go with Younis, the guy was probably the mentally toughest batsman we have produced since Miandad. He has played more decisive innings at the highest level than de Villiers, who is of course streets ahead of Younis in terms of talent but possesses half the mental toughness. I'd want Younis in my corner every time over de Villiers.
 
Actually, I am ready to change my opinion regarding this. That opinion was based on perception.

de Villiers is great but Younis is an ATG in the longer format and as good as kumar Sangakkara is. So, Younis is better.
 
soso_killer said:
AB is not my cup of tea, but is ahead of YK comfortably too. You don't average 50 away and be a mug with the bat. He was part of the original big four.

However he needs to continue winning matches though.
Click to expand...

Which fab four?
 
UN talkz said:
How can people rate AB ahead of YK in Tests? Seriously
Click to expand...

Because that's what the reality is, no matter how bitter.

Pure cricketing and batting talent/skills, AB >>> YK in Tests.

And he has strong performances to back that up.
 
YK for me. AB lost a couple of his peak years so remains to be seen whether he can get back up there and maintain it ie not chuck another tanty. No more Kallis/Smith and given Amla’s struggles and Steyn’s injuries plus quality players like Morkel, Abbott, Russouw etc leaving to play County cricket (just the beginning I think) things are definitely not as rosy as before. So the chances of AB hanging around and playing regularly remains quite slim the way I see it.

Ratings provide a more accurate picture of things than just averages given it takes into account a lot more variables and factors.

Test ratings - Red lines represent 800 and 850 rating points and the Blue line YK’s peak rating

Screen_Shot_2018_04_16_at_11_11_55_am.png



AB had a great run beginning of 2013 till end of 2015 but overall YK the better performer. AB has his work cut-out.
 
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