Younis Khan, nicknamed “YK” is a Pakistani cricketer, born on November 29, 1977 in Mardan. He is primarily a middle-order batsman, who also bowls right-arm medium pace and leg-break spin. Younis Khan completed his Grade 12 from the Islamia Arts and College at Karachi. Being the youngest in his family, he has six elder brothers and three elder sisters. Younis Khan married Amna on March 30, 2007 and they have a son, Owais.
He made his Test debut and scored his maiden Test century on February 26, 2000 in the match against Sri Lanka at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. He scored another century (116 runs) against the home country at Galle, Sri Lanka in the same year. In 2001, Younis Khan made an unbeaten 149 runs against New Zealand at Eden Park. He scored two centuries in 2002; one against Bangladesh at the Chittagong Stadium and the other (153) against the West Indies at the Sharjah Stadium. In 2004, he smashed another century against Sri Lanka at the National Stadium in Karachi. During the Test series in March 2005 against India, Younis Khan played well and scored 147 in Kolkata. He made a double century (267 runs) in his 35th Test match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and helped his team to win the match, which is his most memorable one. While playing against the West Indies in Jamaica, he scored another brilliant century in 2005.
If it had not been for a run, Younis Khan would have scored another double century in a Test against India at the Gaddafi Stadium in 2006. In the same tour, he fell short of six runs to make another Test double century in the very next Test match against India at the Iqbal Stadium. Being in good form, Younis Khan etched 173 runs against England in his 46th Test match at the Leeds in 2006. During South Africa’s tour of Pakistan in 2007, he scored two centuries against the visiting opponent team, one at the National Stadium and the other at the Gaddafi Stadium. In the same year, Younis Khan scored an unbeaten 107 runs against India at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, which was his 57th Test match. As os 2008, he played in 58 Test matches and made 4,816 runs averaging at 49.14, which includes 15 centuries and 20 half-centuries.
Younis Khan played for the first time in an One Day International (ODI) match for Pakistan against Sri Lanka on February 13, 2000. He scored his first ODI century against Hong Kong at the the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo in 2004. In Southampton, he once again proved himself by scoring a ton in a match against England in 2006. Younis Khan scored his first ODI century (117 runs) against India at Mohali in 2007. He carried his good form and scored a century against the Indian cricket team in 2008 in a ODI held at Dhaka. In the same year, he made an unbeaten 123 runs against India in his home country. Of his 175 ODIs, Younis Khan made five centuries and 34 half-centuries to make a total of 5,087 runs at an average of 33.91. His quick reflexes are an attribute to his slip fielding, and according to a report published by Cricinfo in late 2005, he, along with Andrew Symonds, an Australian player, is responsible for the third highest number of run-outs in ODI cricket, since the 1999 World Cup.
Younis Khan made his international Twenty20 (T20I) debut against England on August 28, 2006 in Bristol. He has played 12 T20Is and has made 223 runs with a highest score of 51 averaging at 20.27. He was signed-in for a price of $225,000 to represent the Rajasthan Royals team at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2008 campaign, and featured in a match against Kings XI Punjab.
Apart from playing cricket, Younis Khan loves to go fishing and play football with his nephew in his spare time.
