Younis Khan, the 2009 T20 World Cup champion for Pakistan, and Abdul Hafeez Kardar, their first Test captain, were inducted into the PCB Hall of Fame on Sunday. The two have joined the distinguished group, which also includes Abdul Qadir, Fazal Mahmood, Hanif Mohammad, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Zaheer Abbas.
In an official statement, PCB chairman Ramiz Raja said, "The two gentlemen will always remain shining icons of Pakistan cricket and idols for the future generations."
Younis was entered right away after becoming eligible since according to PCB Hall of Fame rules, a player must have played at least five years ago in his last international match. Younis' most recent international contest was a Test that Pakistan won in Dominica in May 2017 with six balls left to seal their first-ever series victory in the Caribbean.
In the 145-year history of Test cricket, he played in 118 of them, the third-most of any Pakistani player, and scored 10,099 runs in those matches. He scored 34 Test centuries (most for Pakistan and sixth most in the world), including six double-centuries (seventh most in the world along with Javed Miandad and five other players), and a career-best 313 in February 2009, which later propelled him to No. 1 position in the ICC rankings. He averaged 52.05 (18th highest among those who have played 50 or more Tests).
Additionally, Younis was in good hands as he held 139 catches (15th most in the world). He also led Pakistan in 38 international contests, 14 of which they triumphed. In his 265 ODI matches and four Cricket World Cups between 2003 and 2015, he amassed 7,249 runs and seven centuries. Younis scored 442 runs with a strike rate of 121.42 in 25 T20 Internationals, but he will be best known for leading Pakistan to their first world championship in 17 years when he won the T20 World Cup in 2009 at Lord's.
Kardar participated in three Test matches for India on their 1946 tour of England before playing for Pakistan. Kardar had previously played for the domestic sides Northern India (1943 and 1945) and Muslims before making his debut for India (1944).
Kardar chose Warwickshire (1948–50) and Oxford University (1947–49) over India after the partition. Kardar, however, was chosen as the team's first captain after Pakistan was admitted as the seventh Test-playing nation on July 28, 1952, and he captained them in all 23 of their matches from 1952 to 1958.
Pakistan won their first Test series under Kardar's captaincy against each of the Test-playing nations of the era: West Indies (Karachi, 1956), Australia (Lucknow, 1956), England (The Oval, 1954), New Zealand (Karachi, 1955), and India (Lucknow, 1952). (Trinidad, 1958).
He scored 927 runs and took 21 wickets in 26 Tests, and also headed the then Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan from 1972-1977. Kardar passed away in Lahore on April 21, 1996, aged 71.