Younis deserves recognition: Wasim Akram

Pakistan’s pace bowling legend Wasim Akram has lavished praise on veteran Younis Khan, saying the seasoned batsman deserves place amongst pantheon of greats in Test cricket, reports Dawn.

Younis became the fifth Pakistan batsman and 62nd overall to play 100 Tests during the second match of the series against Sri Lanka last month.

The 37-year-old batsman, who holds a career Test average of 54.07, is the third most prolific batsmen for Pakistan behind Javed Miandad and Inzamam-ul-Haq and just needs 19 more runs to claim the top spot.

Reflecting on Younis’ achi­e­ve­ments, 104-Test Wasim said: “Younis doesn’t get the recognition in world cricket that he deserves; the batsman is as good as any player in the world in Test cricket.”

Wasim added: “Younis truly deserves to be counted in the list of current great Test batsmen, featuring stalwarts such as AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, Michael Clarke and Steve Smith.”

Hailing the batsman’s number of records, Wasim also described Younis as a true ambassador of Pakistan cricket and one of the all-time Pakistani cricketing greats.

Younis Khan of Pakistan drinks water during the second session of the third day of the first test match against Bangladesh at Khulna. Photo: Firoz Ahmed