Younis Khan becomes first Pakistan player to reach 10,000 Test runs

Younis Khan becomes first Pakistan player to reach 10,000 Test runs

Kingston, Jamaica: Younis Khan became the first Pakistan player to score 10,000 Test runs on Sunday, reaching the landmark shortly after tea on the third day of the first Test against West Indies. The 39-year-old is just the 13th batsman in the history of the sport to break the 10,000-run barrier. He took his place in the record books with a sweep shot for a boundary off slow bowler Roston Chase on the second ball after the interval at Sabina Park having started the day requiring just 23 runs to reach his target. Younis, playing in his 116th Test, will retire after the three-match series in the Caribbean having made his debut in 2000.He has made 32 Test centuries with the best score of 313 against Sri Lanka in 2009. 

India's Sachin Tendulkar is the all-time leading Test run scorer, making 15,921 runs before he retired.

Younis, who had been one run short of the milestone at tea on Sunday, can still move up a place in the overall record books with India's Sunil Gavaskar on 10,122 runs, now well within his sights.

"Younis Khan has been an excellent ambassador of Pakistan cricket. The number of records he has set in the recent past is something we as a nation can take great pride in," said Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar M. Khan.

"He is the only Pakistan batsman and Test cricketer in the world to score centuries in 11 countries across the world, the feat he achieved against Australia early this year.

"I congratulate him on rewriting the record books and hope he carries the form to win the Test series against the West Indies."