YOUNIS Khan is undoubtedly one of the greatest cricketers to have donned the Pakistan Test cap. His tenacity under pressure, courage in the face of the most lethal of attacks and the flamboyance of strokeplay has been worth watching and laudable.

No man therefore deserved to get a century more against Australia than Younis. This completes for him the grand slam for every batsman in the world; a hundred against every Test-playing country at the time. Let it be emphasised, ‘at the time’. You may balk at the point being made ahead but it is not so much about statistical comparison as it is about being fair and faithful to all our heroes.

It is the job of statisticians to present facts, agreed. But unfortunate that interpreters of statisticians and record keepers lose sight of this fact; to define it as something of an analytical footnote may not be altogether inappropriate.

And even if statisticians do not always present achievements without qualifications it should really be the job of writers, analysts and commentators to bring to the surface mention of feats that stand in parallel to the record maker.

As such it needs to be pointed out that Younis is in a way not the only batsman to have scored a hundred for Pakistan against every Test playing nation playing Test cricket at the time. So too are Hanif Mohammad and Asif Iqbal, if only a combination of 50 Tests, 10 hundreds and playing Tests against minimum of four countries are considered for qualification.

Was it their fault that Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh were not Test playing nations? Or that South Africa chose then not to play against non-white nations?

You can say that Younis therefore has scored hundreds against more teams. But when you say all Test-playing sides then it is only proper to mention that he has equalled Hanif and Asif Iqbal. Not compulsory, not a necessary qualification but just courtesy to the heroes of the past who have today been totally discarded to that box in the back shelf in the dust ridden cellar. It is the decent thing to do in reverence of services rendered to the country by this generation who earned nothing but self satisfaction playing for their country.

Hanif and Asif have both achieved this feat for Pakistan before they retired, 12 and 2 years respectively before the first of the three new Test entrants, Sri Lanka came on the scene which in itself was some ten seasons earlier than South Africa came back from international ostracisation.

In effect therefore both scored a Test hundred against every country on the Test match circuit playing at the time. Table ‘A’ shows Hanif and Table ‘B’ Asif achieving Test centuries against the five other Test playing countries – Australia, England, West Indies, New Zealand and India.

If you read these tables, and especially between the lines, you will see that both Hanif and Asif are in some aspects superior to Younis even as Younis is superior to both in terms of the turnover of his hundreds, posting a three-figure score every third to fourth game in his career.

However, the rows of the last column in each table throws up the frequency of hundreds against each side, and though it needs more space to elaborate on strength of competition in the three different eras, but just skin-deep research will show how tough was batting abroad when Hanif and Asif played. Faster and bouncier pitches, no protection, no limits to number of bouncers.

From the tables we see that Hanif achieved a Test hundred in every country while over two-thirds of Asif’s Test centuries have come on the terms and conditions of the host side.

Remember too that when these two batsmen played they were at the mercy of host umpires with none or less intensive camera coverage putting pressure on those on-field adjudicators.

Of the three, only Younis has played under neutral umpires. While that fact may take away from Hanif’s hundreds against ‘friendly’ home umpires, it certainly cannot take away from Asif’s.

Nevertheless Hanif’s 337 came in the West Indies and if they couldn’t give him out, it can well be imagined how very few advantages he needed from Pakistani umpires.

During Hanif’s days especially there were lots of gaps in between Test series and very few minnows; perhaps only New Zealand were the easier of the teams to play against. And when Asif got his hundreds he was playing against the heaviest gathering of arguable the fastest bowlers of all time, that in 1976-77; and against an England side who were masters of seaming conditions where he got two of his hundreds against them.

Younis, of course, can stake his claim to stand beside these two masters of the game by having a higher turnover of hundreds, 25 in 92 with an innings to go in the Dubai.

Again the point being made here is to acknowledge Younis while also recalling similar feat by our other cricketing legends. And to underline that as we progress to an age of onslaught of information and less retention, of adulation of the present and disregarding of the past it is imperative that we keep some names alive.

Those of us who are of a generation that saw no less grit on the cricket field by men of similar commitment, patriotism and skill as Younis must ensure that past greats are remembered and appreciated for how they served their country. And, mind you, for a pittance of what the modern day player earns; literally for blood, sweat, tears and country.

Test hundreds against all countries (playing at the time)

Hanif Mohammad (Table ‘A’) Country Hundreds Home Away % Away Test Hundred after appearances every — Tests Australia 2 1 1 50% 6 3 England 3 2 1 33% 18 6 West Indies 2 1 1 50% 6 3 New Zealand 3 2 1 33% 10 3-4 India 2 1 1 50% 15 7-8 TOTAL 12 7 5 42 55 4-5

Asif Iqbal (Table ‘B’) Country Hundreds Home Away % Away Test Hundred after appearances every — Tests Australia 3 0 3 100% 10 3-4 England 3 1 2 66% 15 5 West Indies 1 0 1 100% 7 7 New Zealand 3 1 2 66% 17 5-6 India 1 1 0 0% 9 9 TOTAL 11 3 8 73 58 5-6

Younis Khan (Table ‘C’) Country Hundreds Home\ Away % Away Test Hundred after Neutral appearances every — Tests Australia 1 1 0 0% 7 7 England 2 1 1 50% 10 5 West Indies 2 1 1 50% 10 5 New Zealand 1 0 1 100% 6 6 India 5 2 3 60% 9 2 Sri Lanka 7 5 2 29% 26 3-4 Zimbabwe 1 0 1 100% 5 5 Bangladesh 2 0 2 100% 5 2-3 South Africa 4 3 1 25% 14 3-4 TOTAL 25 13 12 48 92 3-4

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2014