Everyone knows that Sri Lanka's test bowling attack has struggled since the retirement of Muralitharan. Sri Lanka is still in search for a bowling attack that can consistently pick up 20 wickets and win them test matches.


Kanishka Balachandran over at Cricinfo talks about the promise that has been shown by Nuwan Kulasekara as Sri Lanka's pace spearhead for test matches. 


Kulasekara has been a sure starter in ODIs for a long time now, however his test appearances have not been as regular. He did well in the 1st test against Pakistan, but I have my doubts about whether he truly can be the bowler to fill the gaps in a bowling unit that has struggled in recent times.


Doing well against Pakistan is not anything new for Kulasekara.


His record suggests that he was probably born to do well against Pakistan.

It is as if his sole purpose in life is to torment Pakistan batsmen.

In 5 test matches against Pakistan, Kulasekara has 25 wickets at an average of 16.4 !

That is 25 of his 31 test wickets.

How can a bowler who has only 6 wickets in 8 tests matches have 25 wickets in 5 matches against one opposition?

Beats me really.

Even his record against Pakistan in ODIs (22 wickets at 27.00) is decidedly superior to his overall ODI record (bowling average of 34).

Kulasekara has the third best bowling average in the history of test cricket against Pakistan! He may be good, but we really make him look like the best.



So when it comes to Pakistan, sure Nuwan Kulasekara is the answer to all of Sri Lanka's bowling woes. But for all other teams, Sri Lanka will definitely have to to dig deeper and find those match winners to replace the threat that used to be posed by Muttiah Muralitharan.

Younis Khan is the first Pakistan batsman to score over 1,000 runs in 4th innings of tests. He also has the the best average among all test batsmen that have scored over 1,000 4th innings test runs, and the second best 4th innings average ever (only Bradman's is higher). #TheRealKingKhan

The last time I wrote about Younis Khan was 4 months ago when he had just knocked up a century against England in Dubai. It was a fantastic innings, and right after that I wrote a post titled "Why Younis Khan is King".

In that post, I highlighted how well (rather better) Younis Khan compares with the batsmen who are popularly referred to as the 'modern greats' of the test arena. What I didn't touch upon in that post was the area where Younis Khan really does reign supreme - The 4th Innings of a Test Match!

Thanks to Mahela Jayawardena's mind boggling decision to not enforce the follow on, Younis Khan got another opportunity to show the world what he is capable of in the 4th innings of a test.

Even though he didn't save the test match for Pakistan (which was never really on the cards given the amount of runs and overs we were up against), Younis Khan did play a splendid knock and in the process became the first ever Pakistan batsman (and 21st overall) to cross 1,000 4th innings test runs.

Achievement?

Definitely.

But there is a bigger achievement.

Younis Khan has the best average among all the test batsmen that have scored over a 1,000 4th innings runs.


Unfortunately Younis fell 13 runs short of his 21st test century today against Sri Lanka, but had he got there he would have become the first ever batsman to score 5 centuries in the 4th innings of a test.

Yes the first ever! Younis currently has 4 4th innings tons and stands level with Sunil Gavaskar, Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting, and Ramnaresh Sarwan.

He truly is the King of the 4th Innings!

Well, not really. I'd simply say he's the King. Be it the 1st innings or the 4th innings, Younis Khan is the real KING KHAN!

If only Pakistan played more test matches...

The past year, 2011, was one of the best cricketing years in the history of Pakistan in terms of team results. Even though there were no outstanding individual performances, as Pakistan is used to, nor were there earth shattering results, but Pakistan won more games than they lost in all formats of the game, and even ended the year with the best win:loss ratio in ODIs among all teams.

It is a norm with Pakistan fans to call for a head or two of a player after a couple of failures. We have no patience at all with our cricketers. Or for that matter anyone from politicians to entertainers to sports players.

My recent twitter feed has been overflowing with people calling for Younis Khan to be axed from the ODI team. General discussions on online cricket forums and facebook are revolving around the same "drop Younis Khan" topic.


Is it really time for him to go?

With a test average of 52.44 and 20 centuries, Younis Khan is one of the best test cricketers of his time. One of the all time Pakistani greats, and arguably the best test number 3 our country has produced.

But when you look at his ODI record, it leaves a lot to be desired. An average of 32.33 and only 6 hundreds is not a record of a good ODI batsman who has batted at number 3 for most, if not all, of his ODI career.

Typically, any ODI team's top 3 batsmen are the ones that are expected to play long innings and make big hundreds. On that front, Younis Khan has failed more often than not.

I believe that the difference of 20 runs between his test and ODI average is probably one of the biggest difference between averages across formats for batsmen.

Besides this below par overall ODI record, Younis has had a lean patch of late as well, which has also led to increased calls for his axing from the shorter version of the game.

He scored his last ODI century almost 4 years ago in an ODI against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi. His last 15 ODI innings have produced only two scores above 50, which includes one against Afghanistan - that 70* is also his highest score in his last 15 ODIs.

Does Younis Khan deserve a place in Pakistan's ODI XI with players like Asad Shafiq (sitting on the bench), Azhar Ali (cementing his position in the ODI squad) and Nasir Jamshed (who will eventually return from injury) having built strong cases for a place in the team?



Probably not.

When Jamshed returns from injury, he will in all likelihood slot back into the opening position with Hafeez. Plus it will be difficult to drop Azhar Ali after his innings of 96 against Sri Lanka and his overall impressive start in ODIs (averaging almost 40 in his first 6 innings with two fifties).

Then, it would be difficult to keep Younis Khan in the team. Definitely more difficult than it is now, as Asad Shafiq, who is the potential replacement if Younis is axed right now, doesn't have a much better ODI record (averages under 30 in 29 ODIs) than Younis himself.

The calls to include Shafiq might be justified given that he is a promising cricketer and has a potentially bright future, but he is not as solid as Azhar Ali is, nor as flamboyant as Umar Akmal. His inclusion in the team will make the batting line up even more weaker than it is now I feel.

Just a few days ago I thought that Younis Khan still had it in him to continue in ODIs, but after giving it some thought and considering his value to the test team, I believe it is time for him to move on. It may even prolong his test career, which will truly benefit Pakistan.

Plus it is also better for Pakistan to transition now with him retiring from ODIs while Misbah carries on for some more time, instead of both the seniors exiting the format at the same time leaving a gaping hole in the middle order.

I hope the team management / selectors are also thinking on the same lines and someone is having this discussion with Younis.

He deserves a fitting finale and farewell, and not an axe similar to what majority of Pakistan's retired cricketers got in their careers.

This ODI series against Sri Lanka should be his last I think.

Do it Younis, do it before they axe you!

With the T20 series shared between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, all eyes are now on the ODI series that begins on 7th June.