Hard work and talent are the main factors involved in becoming successful in any walk of life, and then you must also have lady luck smiling at you. Yunus Khan, the young Vice-Captain of the Pakistani cricket team has had all of these to help him become the great cricketer that he is today.
Usually playing at the No.3 position, Yunus has played 37 Test matches and 118 One-Days, giving many match-winning performances. Friendly and flexible, this sportsman gets along well with all his team mates. Having a demanding and hectic life, Yunus Khan rarely has time for fun and relaxation. And being an guy who likes the outdoors, it is not surprising that his favourite pastime is fishing!
When asked about his ideal sports person, Yunus choose to remain diplomatic by not naming any one person. He claims that there had been may gurus and favourites who have influenced him, but most of all it has been due to the Grace of Allah that he was able to reach this important position.
Yunus is candid enough to confess that he has never been a scholastic person but reading books is one of his preferred way to relax. For him there is no such thing as a favourite book or a favourite author; there is no ethical or an immoral book. “Books are either well or poorly written. Even a glossy magazine which can grasp my interest for some time is an exciting reading material. My concentration span is very short and erratic. I need a lot of diversity in my life, so no single type of book can keep my concentration for long and my restless spirit glued to it.
A book that he recently read and which he became engrossed in is My Life, the autobiography of the ex-American President Bill Clinton. But he hastily adds that some of its passages were very lengthy. Yet, the gist that he gauged from this book was that no personal consideration should stand in the way of public duty. Another book that he found engaging was Tahir Jehangir’s A Travel Companion to the Northern Areas of Pakistan.
Yunus feels that the Indian cinema has really progressed well in these few decades. However, he also feels that it is sad that our movies have still not been able to reach their level. Only Sangeeta and Syed Noor who have been successful in producing good movies. According to the sportsman, a lot of improvement is needed in the field of film-making. He points out that prior to the invasion of Indian movies thanks to the VCR and now CDs and DVDs, there were many poignant and excellent movies being made here, such as Aina and Lazawaal. Pushto films lack the depth and finesse, but, being a Pakhtoon, he still takes pleasure in watching these once in a blue moon.
When talking about TV plays, Yunus expresses that there have been many remarkable and classic plays but most belong to the days when there was only PTV and no private channels. Classic plays like Aik haqeeqat sao afsaney, Dhuan and Red Card, were all superb with powerful scripts. “Hasina Moin’s scripts are always interesting, and I like Iqbal Ansari’s direction as it is usually has a non-judgmental and clear approach,” declares Yunus. He confesses that after watching Zeba Bakhtiar in the play Anarkali, he was captivated by her beauty and since then he has always admired the actress.
According to the vice-captain, Firdous Jamal, Jamal Shah, Abid Ali, Shehnaz Sheikh and the late Khalida Riyasat are all actors and actresses of distinction, whose artistic skills, highly emotive dialogue delivery and charged screen presence are unmatched. Omar Sharif and Moin Akhtar remain Yunus Khan’s favourite humorists — it is their television performance that he has relished, not their stage work.
Yunus Khan believes that private productions have a long way to go, whereas Manni and Azfar Ali both are extremely talented and loaded with potential. It is interesting to note that Yunis Khan made a guest appearance on the TV in the comedy Mein Aur Tum some time back and discloses that it was on the whole an enjoyable expedience. And he is quick to add that in future he would like to appear in TV plays, especially those produced by Azfar Ali and his crew.
The young man clearly seemed charmed by the limelights of showbiz and when asked if we are seeing another Mohsin Khan in the making, he smiles and brushes it off, “No way! It is just TV I am talking about and not films.”
Becoming serious again, Yunus recalls that Dilip Kumar’s Daag made a great impression on him and since then he has been a favourite actor of Yunus. Among the present generation, Ashwariya Rai and Shahrukh Khan are worth watching.
The cricketer also likes listening to Urdu poetry and sometimes mushairas. Among the poets, he finds Zafar Iqbal and Sagir Siddique remarkable.
A little boy at heart, the cricketer enjoys both cartoons and comics. He names Thunder Cats and Johnny Quest among his favourites, and all those cartoons in which there are missions to foreign lands thrill him. Comics too make interesting reading and there are many lying around in his room. “Somehow, in my heart, I feel myself to be a character out of a comic book, not Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck, but an adventurer,” chuckles the cricketer.
Apart from reading the Quranic Verses each day, he also reads books written in Arabic on his endless flights.
Music to him is something that appeals to the mind and the heart. Any type of music which moves the soul is good music. “It’s the best companion of a lonely person. Rahim Shah’s Pehle to kabhi kabhi gham tha, Adnan Sami’s nonconformist compositions and captivating nasal voice and Raghav’s upbeat remixes lighten up after a rough day at the stadium,” discloses Yunus.
In the end, the cricketer sums up, “One’s taste keep evolving and changing so what has interested me at one time may fail to captivate me after a while.”
Favourite movie: Daag, and Pashtu films once in a blue moon
Favourite characters: Johnny Quest and Thunder Cats
Favourite music: Rahim Shah’s Pehle to kabhi kabhi gham thaa
Hard work and talent are the main factors involved in becoming successful in any walk of life, and then you must also have lady luck smiling at you. Yunus Khan, the young Vice-Captain of the Pakistani cricket team has had all of these to help him become the great cricketer that he is today.
