Younis Khan is Pakistan’s best Test catcher

Younis Khan caught Hashim Amla on second ball of the second morning of Abu Dhabi Test match against South Africa. Hashim Amla who held South African innings together on the opening day of the match was unbeaten at 118 overnight. Soon after Amla’s dismissal, South African innings was wrapped up.

The ‘Good Morning’ catch placed Younis Khan at par with legendary Javed Miandad as Pakistan’s highest catcher in Test cricket. Both have now caught 93 batsmen in their Test careers. Javed Miandad required 124 Test matches to catch 93 batsmen while Younis Khan took only 85 Tests to reach the same milestone. 

India’s Rahul Dravid holds the world record of highest aggregate of catches in Test cricket. He had a total tally of 210 catches in 164 Test matches. He is followed by Australia’s Ricky Ponting (196 catches in 168) and Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene (194 in 138 matches) and South Africa’s Jacques Kallis (194 in 138 Test matches). Rahul Dravid and Ricky Ponting have retired from Test cricket but Mahela Jayawardene and Jacques Kallis are still playing and either of the two may eventually grab the record.

Younis Khan and Javed Miandad are Pakistan’s record holder but they are placed at number 36 in world’s list of aggregate of catches in Test cricket. Australian fielders dominate the list of 35 as 12 have caught 93 or more batsmen in Test cricket. It is followed by England with 8 fielders which are followed by 5 each from West Indies and India. South Africa has 3 fielders in the list while one each from Sri Lanka and New Zealand complete the list.

For Pakistan in Test cricket, the top 10 catchers are Younis Khan (93 catches in 85 Test matches), Javed Miandad (93 in 124), Inzamam-ul-Haq (81 in 119), Majid Khan (65 in 63), Mohammad Yousuf (65 in 90), Saleem Malik (65 in 103), Mudassar Nazar (48 in 76), Ijaz Ahmed (45 in 60), Wasim Akram (44 in 103) and Taufeeq Umar (43 catches in 43 Test matches).

The national record holders for every Test playing countries are India’s Rahul Dravid (210 catches in 164 Test matches), Australia’s Ricky Ponting (196 in 168), Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawerdene (194 in 138), South Africa’s Jacques Kallis (194 in 163), New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming (171 in 111), West Indies’s Brian Lara (164 in 131), England’s Andrew Strauss (121 in 100), Pakistan’s Younis Khan (93 in 85) and Javed Miandad (93 in 124), Zimbabwe’s Alistair Campbell (60 in 60) and Bangladesh’s Mohammad Ashraful (25 catches in 61 Test matches).

Younis Khan is still active in Test cricket and there is every possibility that he will become the first Pakistani fielder to hold 100 catches in Test matches.