Younis Khan opens up about his batting form, his playing experiences in Australia, how Pakistan have fared in the World Cup, their depth of fast bowling, Misbah-ul-Haq’s captaincy, and more
Interview by Daniel Brettig in Adelaide18-Mar-2015You had a season with South Australia in 2008-09. What did you learn about playing in Adelaide?
At that time I loved the ground because it was a traditional cricket stadium and very nice. Now it’s a very huge ground. But at that time we had fantastic guys, especially Graham Manou, the captain, he was a very popular guy around the team and he was very helpful, we were helping each other. There were some good games, in Brisbane against Queensland we chased 300 on the last day and won a Sheffield Shield game. But the main thing was that the whole team was very young and they were very motivated in their performances and they played with their heart for the Redbacks, so it was quite a nice season.What have you been able to tell some of the younger members of the Pakistan team about playing in Australia?
I learned a lot when I was here. What I would suggest to the youngsters is that they must come and play some cricket in Australia. They will learn a lot. Why? Because there was almost no difference between international cricket and playing domestic cricket in Australia. The level is there. Sometimes if you play first-class cricket in any other country, it feels like a first-class game. But here the competition was there, everybody was very hungry, there are no easy runs, the quality of the pitches was high and the umpiring also. Any time I played against any single state it looked to me like international cricket, a higher intensity all the time. So I think youngsters should come here and learn from Australian cricket.More recently you have had two contrasting experiences. The series against Australia in the UAE where you were dominant and Pakistan won. Now at this World Cup it has been more of a struggle. What do you take from last year?
At that time there was controversy for me. Before that I performed well for my country and I was expecting if the team wanted or needed me in the World Cup this was the chance. If I played against Australia or New Zealand I had a good chance, because I wanted to do something for my country. Everybody knows I won’t be playing for much longer, maybe one or two years, so my career is ending and I was keen to play against Australia and then New Zealand to have a chance to play in the World Cup. But there was controversy and at one point I am thinking I am going to retire from cricket. But when the series started against Australia we lost the T20 game and then the three one-dayers as well, especially the last game, which was very close. So at that stage I thought, “enough, this is the time,” it is easy for me not to want to play against Australia in Test matches because in any conditions, they are a good side.But after that I start to think if I go and play and perform against them, it will help my team and my career and myself as well. So I was only thinking like that, positive thinking to go and play hard cricket for my country, myself and my family. In the first Test match we were two wickets for not many and it looked like they would crush us in the first innings, and everybody knows how crucial the first match is. But I went out there, I faced [Peter] Siddle [Mitchell] and Johnson and they were all over me. But I was cool, I knew if I stayed there and thought positively maybe I would make some runs. And suddenly things came to me… I was very happy how I played because before that I had no centuries against Australia in Test matches.So how did you change your mind?
I spent some time with my family, then my brother, my mother. They motivated me to go out and play the way you play, and suddenly things were going better. We won both games.Things were better, but they have not been so easy here. You have been in and out of the team, you are not certain to play on Friday against Australia. How do you look at this tournament?
I was very keen to perform the way Javed Miandad, Imran Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Ramiz Raja performed in 1992. I thought if I play hard cricket for my country I will perform. But this is life, sometimes you wish things the way you want and they’re not coming your way. I learn a lot from any single moment in my whole career and I hope the way Pakistan are playing at the moment it will be a good game against Australia on Friday here. Whether I play or not, if my team is winning it is good for my country.The team struggled at the start of this tournament but then it turned around against South Africa in Auckland.
It was quite fantastic. There was a chance to play against South Africa and I didn’t make a lot of runs but that 30-odd innings and the partnership with Sarfraz Ahmed was quite nice. Then the way we bowled, we all knew this was the game, we have to perform in this game. After batting we did not have many runs on the board but we knew that with the conditions here if you pitch it in the right areas you may be lucky, get some wickets and suddenly the bowlers were bowling very well and everybody was motivated. Sometimes things happen like that, in the first over when [Mohammad] Irfan got [Quinton] de Kock out, the momentum shifted to us and we grabbed that opportunity.Before that game nobody was thinking about us qualifying for the final, but after that game we were everywhere. Now everyone knows this is a team that if they play according to their plans on the day maybe they will do well. Amazing things can happen and you learn a lot from these situations.”Misbah is like Steve Waugh, he’s calm, he’s cool, but inside he’s very strong. I’ve spent a lot of time with him and he’s strong”•Getty ImagesWhat are some of the most important points about starting an innings in Australia this tournament?
Especially after those two bouncers, two new balls and the extra fielder coming into the ring, sometimes batsmen are rushing into things. It is basic cricket, the first ten overs are very crucial. The new ball, a bit of bounce, a bit of moisture in the pitches, if you get through those ten overs then suddenly the ball is soft here and everybody knows the pitches are good, the ground is good. Later on in your innings you will catch up. The plan will be very simple and very basic, have some wickets for the last 15 overs and then you never know how much you can score. I have suggested to the youngsters that we play like that, and that will be good for everyone.Something about Pakistan is the amazing depth of fast bowling, which we have seen in this tournament. Even without Mohammad Irfan on Friday you will have a very good pace attack. Why do you think there is so much depth?
If you see the past we have had a lot of great fast bowlers. Fazal Mahmood, Sarfraz Nawaz, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, Aaqib Javed, Mohammad Zahid, Mohammad Akram was very fast at one time. It is like in Australia having Merv Hughes, Craig McDermott and others. If you have quality batsmen or bowlers in your team the youngsters are motivated from them. And if you watch the way Johnson changed, grew that big moustache like Merv and suddenly things are changing, and the youngsters want to be like him. We are lucky we have had fast bowlers in the national team so the youngsters follow them. Same as me in the 1990s I watched Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas and I followed them and wanted to play like them.Misbah-ul-Haq is your contemporary. You’ve seen and played with and against him for a long time. What is it that makes him a leader?
He is very calm. I think he’s like Steve Waugh. When you watched him play he was very quiet but he’s tough. He had a tough body, tough emotions. So Misbah is like Steve Waugh, he’s calm, he’s cool, but inside he’s very strong. I’ve spent a lot of time with him and he’s strong. Sometimes he looks like he’s not strong but inside he’s very strong and he wants to play for his country, his family, himself. Whenever the team is under pressure he has stood there and performed.The other thing is the hunger he shows with his batting all the time. Whenever you watch Misbah he wants to go there and play 100, 150 balls. He loves his batting, he doesn’t show he’s bored with batting. So that’s why whenever Pakistan’s batting is under pressure, Misbah is there. That’s why he performed well and that’s why these things make him different to other captains.You need inner strength to play and to lead in Pakistan. Is that what you were dealing with last year?
Sometimes as a top player for your country you deal with these kinds of things. The way I play my cricket and the way I carry myself matters to me. I was captain in 2009 when we played against Australia in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, I had a very young team at that time. I knew that maybe we will lose, but I was not scared about doing some experimenting with the team, and that’s how we found Saeed Ajmal. Mohammad Amir was there as well, we were not scared to bring him to the 2009 ICC Twenty20 in England, and suddenly we won that. You learn not to be scared, because sooner or later, maybe not today or not tomorrow, you will achieve your goals.In the first game here against India you were dismissed by a bouncer. They have had a role to play in this World Cup because of the pitches – you have to have a different approach here to the UAE.
You have to deal with the two bouncers and the two new balls. Sometimes you think it is a Powerplay so you just go after the ball and the bowler and if you start well you have maybe 60 or 70 runs in the first Powerplay so you will score maybe 400. But as an opening batsman like against South Africa, if you have a partnership at the start and don’t rush things you will be in the game. What happens whenever the Powerplay comes you lose wickets, people get too excited and you think “this is a Powerplay, maybe we will score 50 or 60”. But if you see over the last four or five years, a lot of wickets go down in that Powerplay. So it’s still basics.After this World Cup what more do you want to achieve. What is left for you to do?
For me it’s not like runs, money or winning games. It is how you play the game. Every day I want to wake early, I want to have breakfast early because as an athlete I’m supposed to do these things. Sometimes you think “oh I’ve done these things for 15, 16 years, maybe I don’t want to do it this morning,” but as an athlete I’m supposed to do these things and I forget how many runs I scored against Australia last year, or how many I scored in this World Cup. How you play the game is more important to me than how much you perform.I’m a lucky person. Inzamam scored 25 hundreds in Test cricket and I have scored 28. But if you compare my skills to Javed Miandad or Inzamam or Mohammad Yousuf or Saeed Anwar, my skills are not matching them. I feel like I’m just an ordinary cricketer. But I still have 28 Test hundreds for my country. How I play my cricket and how I carry myself are most important to me.There is not long left for you or for Misbah. How do you think the team is shaping up for when you are gone?
At the moment we have some of the best youngsters in the team. The way Ahmed Shehzad is playing, Haris Sohail, Sarfraz Ahmed, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq is there as well. When Shahid Afridi is no longer in the team, Yasir Shah is there. When we’re gone, our youngsters will be there and they will play even better than us.
