Younus Khan: one of cricket’s last remaining gentlemen

The 36-year-old commands the respect of teammates and opponents alike

KARACHI: It is said that cricket is losing the class and mutual respect that had earned it its nickname of being ‘the gentleman’s game’. However, when Australian skipper Michael Clarke called Younus Khan a ‘gentleman of the game’ in the recently concluded Test series, the accolade was anything but mere hyperbole.

The compliment portrayed the amount of respect Younus commands in opposition dressing room, even in one as hostile to their opponents as Australia’s. The significance of the title, coming from the fiercely competitive Clarke, was not lost on the 36-year-old. “It’s always nice be acknowledged by your peers but to get a title such as ‘a gentleman of the game’ from Clarke is special because he himself has been a great player with all that he has achieved for Australia and I  have the same amount of respect for Clarke,” Younus told The Express Tribune.

The universal respect that Younus has earned is no surprise, considering the way he conducts himself on and off the pitch. “I try to respect everyone, whether they are juniors, seniors, teammates or opponents, because that’s a part of me,” he said. “I don’t come down hard on others until they come down hard on me. The idea is to keep it simple and enjoy cricket and I only react when people turn up the heat on me unnecessarily, but that’s just natural.”

But the man who led Pakistan to their first ever T20 World Cup has always been a model professional and has never let his humble and respecting attitude come in the way of his desire to win; the fire to fight still burns fiercely in him, nearly 15 years after he made his international debut.

“Being a gentleman doesn’t mean that I won’t give my 100% on the field or with the bat,” he said. “I don’t like to be complacent or generous, just humble; but I’m a fighter who keeps fighting silently with my fielding and batting.”

Younus was phenomenal with the bat in the two-Test series as he scored three consecutive centuries against the Aussies to become the first player to do so in 90 years after Herbert Sutcliffe. He amassed 468 runs — yet another record — in the four innings at an average of 156.00, as he became Pakistan’s highest century maker with 27 tons. In addition, he also became the third Pakistani to score over 8,000 runs with 8,078 runs from 93 Tests; the fastest Pakistani to reach the milestone in terms of matches played.

Younus, however, is not yet finished and he now has his sights on winning the upcoming World Cup. “It would be a dream come true to win the 2015 World Cup, just like we won the 2009 World T20,” he said. “I’m still fit and hungry to score runs, so it would be a nice achievement to win an important event like the World Cup again.”

The man who has anchored many a Pakistan innings, especially since the departure of Muhammad Yousuf and Inzamamul Haq, believes that the future of the country’s batting is in the right hands as he and captain Misbahul Haq reach the twilight of their illustrious careers. “We’ve got very good players now because Ahmed Shahzad is maturing as an opener and likes to carry on the innings, while Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq provide stability in the middle-order,” he said. “As far as Sarfraz Ahmed is concerned, I think he has made the biggest impact in the last few series with the way he has gone about his business because Pakistan needed a solid player at number seven.”

Pakistan’s younger batsmen may be maturing at the right time for the country and may therefore soften the blow for the nation, but when Younus invariably walks off into the sunset, one of cricket’s last gentlemen will be lost forever.
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