Younis Khan (also spelled as Younus Khan) is a Pakistani cricketer and former captain of the Pakistan national cricket team.[2] He has scored centuries (100 or more runs in a single innings) in Test and One Day International (ODI) matches on thirty-four and seven occasions respectively.[3][4] He has played 115 Test and 265 ODI matches for Pakistan, scoring 10000+ and 7,249 runs respectively.[2] He was described by the BBC as "a dependable member of the strong Pakistan middle order" and the "most graceful batsman in the side".[5] Former Australian captain Michael Clarke said about him that he was "one of the gentlemen of our game, class player" and "a very good player".[6]
In Test cricket, Khan is the first Pakistani batsman to score centuries against all the Test cricket playing teams and only cricketer to score to score centuries in eleven countries.[15] He was most successful against Sri Lanka, making eight Test centuries against them. As of May 2024[update], he is joint sixth-overall among all-time Test century-makers,[3] and top of the equivalent list for Pakistan.[16] In October 2015, Khan became Pakistan's all-time leading run scorer in Test matches, overtaking Javed Miandad's tally of 8,832 runs, while playing against England.[17] He is also the only Pakistani batsman to score over 10,000 Test runs.[18] In August 2016, Khan scored his sixth double century (200 or more runs) during Tests to equal Javed Miandad’s record of scoring the most individual double tons for Pakistan in Test cricket.[19] He also became only the second batsman after Kumar Sangakkara to register six scores of more than 200 against six different countries.[20]
Khan made his ODI debut in February 2000 against Sri Lanka at the National Stadium,[21] Khan's first century came against Hong Kong in July 2004 at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo. His score of 144 is his highest set in an ODI match.[22] As of May 2024[update], he is 13th in the list of ODI century-makers for Pakistan, a position he shares with Zaheer Abbas.[23] Khan played 25 Twenty20 International (T20I) matches between 2006 and 2010, and never scored a century in the format.[24] His highest score in T20Is remained 51, against Sri Lanka during the 2007 ICC World Twenty20.[25] He announced his retirement from T20Is after winning the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 for Pakistan.[26] As of May 2024[update], he is jointly 18th overall among all-time combined century-makers,[1][n 4] and top of the equivalent list for Pakistan.[27]