Younis Khan to retire after West Indies Tests as wellESPNCRICINFO STAFF
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Younis Khan averages 53 in Test cricket © Getty ImagesYounis Khan has joined Misbah-ul-Haq in retiring from international cricket at the end of the tour of the West Indies in April and May. He announced his decision in Karachi on Saturday, two days after Misbah did in Lahore, bringing an end to a 17-year Test career.
“People are calling me and asking me not to make any announcement to leave but now is the time,” Younis, 39, said in Karachi. “A time comes in every player’s life when he has to decide and I always tried my best to serve my county with my head high. No player always remains fit, the motivation never remains the same, so this is the time when Younis should leave the field after the upcoming series in West Indies.”
The exits of Younis and Misbah after the three Tests in the Caribbean will cost the Pakistan team more than 190 matches worth of experience. Younis, 39, heads into the series 23 runs short of becoming the first Pakistan batsman to score 10,000 Test runs. Misbah, nearly 43, needs 49 for 5000.
“I always tried to be a good ambassador and serve my country to take it one step forward,” Younis said. "If I failed to deliver at some stage in my career and made mistakes, please forgive it as a failing from one of your own.
“This isn’t something sudden, this was always building up and few of my close friends knew it. Although I had a plan to retire after surpassing Javed bhai’s [Miandad] runs record, then I was motivated to complete 10,000 runs so I have decided to get them. The reason I announced it before hand was people start asking me for more, they could then ask me to take 11,000 or 12,000 or I may start thinking to reach Sachin’s 15,000 runs. Humans can never be satisfied but I am not in an age to make that far, so I want people to respect my decision and allow me to fulfil my future plans.”
Speculation of retirement had not followed Younis like it did for Misbah, but the lack of a big score until the third Test in Sydney, where Younis made an unbeaten 175, did raise the question. Younis had said then that his future depended on what the team wanted from him.
Younis has played 115 Tests, having made his debut in 2000, and has 9977 runs at an average of 53.06 with 34 hundreds, the most for a Pakistan batsman. His best Test score - 313 against Sri Lanka in 2009 - is the third highest for Pakistan, after Hanif Mohammad’s 337 and Inzamam-ul-Haq’s 329. He was recently named one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year, following his contribution in Pakistan’s 2-2 drawn series in England last summer.
