Early in his career, when he had started playing first-class cricket for Habib Bank, Younis Khan’s captain Akram Raza would play a little game with him. At the end of every session that Younis was batting, Raza would go ask him how many he was on.
Often, if he was on, say, 60, he would tell him to make himself believe he was on zero and start all over again. If he had batted three sessions and found himself on 150, Raza would tell him again to play as if he was on zero.
Over the years Younis internalised this little process and turned it into some seriously big numbers.
At The Oval he made a 32nd Test hundred to 30 fifties, a rate of conversion that is the best among the top ten century-makers in the history of the game.
The last 30 times he has gotten into the 90s, he has gotten a hundred. Six times he has gone to a double or beyond. However you spin those numbers, the truth is unchanged.
“When I get to 20, I feel like it has begun,” he said in an interview last year. “‘Now get to 50’. When I get to 50, now I’m on zero. Then get to 70 and then, yes it feels like a 100 is near because the ball is older, the bowlers and fielders are tired and those balls are about to come that you need to cash in on. If the situation is such that we are not going to declare, then whenever I have scored 100, the idea is to bat on, 200, 300.”
This is easier said than done, of course, otherwise fifties would not be a numerical reality. All coaches and captains must tell their batsmen, and batsmen must tell themselves, to cash in when set. These are the staple words of any batsman at the end of a day’s play after he has made a big one.
The actual process of taking in these words, maybe at a formative stage, maybe later and acting upon them? Good luck lifting the veil on that.
That, anyway, is secondary. Younis’ double at The Oval yesterday was only partly about his ability to go big – mostly it was more evidence of this burning rock inside that has led him now, surely, atop the list of the finest Pakistani batsmen of all time. See how he has gone in this series, how wretched it has looked.
In fact it has not been as bad as that, but a series of low scores exacerbated by the fuss over his movements around the crease. That has been overdone – Younis has generally been a twitchy presence until he is settled.
He has moved around more yes, residue from the change in stance that has come from playing mostly in Asia. But towards the end of a couple of those innings, have always been clear signs he was working it out, as if calming himself down from an anxiety attack at the crease. And that has been another strength through his career, that he has worked it out himself.
It is a truth he has learnt over the years, working his way through Pakistan cricket.
Coaches and mentors and influences come and go, shaping and neatening the edges around a player. The core must remain unchanged and more importantly, it must first be found. You have to find a way Younis often says when talking about younger batsmen in the side.
That is precisely what he did at The Oval: he believed in what he is and stuck with it, imposing his style on the innings.
Nearly 20 years ago, Javed Miandad, hitherto Pakistan’s greatest batsman, struggled his way through four Tests of a five-Test series. People began wondering whether he had what it took to succeed in alien conditions. Before the start of the final Test, at The Oval as it happens, he was averaging 25 in 10 Tests in England.
Miandad responded with 260 and it was impossible not to see shades of that in Younis’s innings today. Great batsmen find a way. Miandad’s double could not force a win, but it did secure a series triumph.
Younis’s contribution might well win the Test, and a share in the series – for Pakistan right now, that is as good as a series win.
osamiuddin@thenational.ae
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%3Cp%3ETotal%20trade%20in%20goods%20and%20services%20(exports%20plus%20imports)%20between%20the%20UK%20and%20the%20UAE%20in%202022%20was%20%C2%A321.6%20billion%20(Dh98%20billion).%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThis%20is%20an%20increase%20of%2063.0%20per%20cent%20or%20%C2%A38.3%20billion%20in%20current%20prices%20from%20the%20four%20quarters%20to%20the%20end%20of%202021.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThe%20UAE%20was%20the%20UK%E2%80%99s%2019th%20largest%20trading%20partner%20in%20the%20four%20quarters%20to%20the%20end%20of%20Q4%202022%20accounting%20for%201.3%20per%20cent%20of%20total%20UK%20trade.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
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A cryptocurrency primer for beginners
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List of officials:
Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumara Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.
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Favourite book: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes or Red Notice by Bill Browder.
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Favourite holiday destination: Being at home in Australia, as I travel all over the world for work. It’s great to just hang out with my husband and family.
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If you go
The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Luang Prabang via Bangkok, with a return flight from Chiang Rai via Bangkok for about Dh3,000, including taxes. Emirates and Thai Airways cover the same route, also via Bangkok in both directions, from about Dh2,700.
The cruise
The Gypsy by Mekong Kingdoms has two cruising options: a three-night, four-day trip upstream cruise or a two-night, three-day downstream journey, from US$5,940 (Dh21,814), including meals, selected drinks, excursions and transfers.
The hotels
Accommodation is available in Luang Prabang at the Avani, from $290 (Dh1,065) per night, and at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp and Resort from $1,080 (Dh3,967) per night, including meals, an activity and transfers.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
