The pair of Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf on Monday made an entry into the record books as the most prolific pair to bat against India.
By the time Younis was bowled in Pakistan's first innings, trying to employ a reverse sweep against Harbhajan Singh, the duo had aggregated 1,372 runs in just nine innings - in which they have batted together against India - at a mind-blowing average of 171.50, moving ahead of West Indian pair of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, who had aggregated 1,325 runs in 30 innings against India.
Interestingly the two Pakistanis took only nine innings to obliterate the West Indian pair's record!
Out of nine occasions on which these two batted together against India, they were involved in six century partnerships and two fifty partnerships - indeed a mind-blowing performance.
Most prolific pairs against India:| Batsmen | Inns | Runs | Hs | Avg | 100 | 50 |
| Mohammad Yousuf & Younis Khan (Pak) | 9 | 1372 | 319 | 171.50 | 6 | 2 |
| CG Greenidge & DL Haynes (WI) | 30 | 1325 | 296 | 45.68 | 2 | 6 |
| Javed Miandad & Zaheer Abbas (Pak) | 13 | 1137 | 287 | 103.36 | 4 | 3 |
| Javed Miandad & Mudassar Nazar (Pak) | 9 | 993 | 451 | 110.33 | 4 | 1 |
| S Chanderpaul & CL Hooper (WI) | 14 | 962 | 293 | 68.71 | 3 | 1 |
| ML Hayden & JL Langer (Aus) | 20 | 949 | 147 | 47.45 | 2 | 8 |
| G Boycott & GA Gooch (Eng) | 14 | 774 | 145 | 64.50 | 2 | 5 |
| WM Lawry & RB Simpson (Aus) | 9 | 753 | 191 | 83.66 | 2 | 5 |
| ST Jayasuriya & RS Mahanama (SL) | 3 | 671 | 576 | 223.66 | 1 | 1 |
| MA Atherton & GA Gooch (Eng) | 7 | 661 | 225 | 94.42 | 3 | 0 |
| RL Dias & LRD Mendis (SL) | 8 | 629 | 216 | 89.85 | 3 | 1 |
| DC Boon & GR Marsh (Aus) | 11 | 621 | 217 | 62.10 | 1 | 3 |
| RB Kanhai & GS Sobers (WI) | 11 | 609 | 173 | 55.36 | 1 | 5 |
Although the pair's average dipped from 185.71 to 171.50 after today's "failure", it still is the highest for any pair aggregating at least 1,000 runs against a specific country. The pair is well ahead of some of the great names in the game's history as is shown below:
Most successful pairs against a particular country:
| Batsmen | Opp | Inns | Runs | Hs | Avg | 100 | 50 |
| Mohammad Yousuf & Younis Khan (Pak) | Ind | 9 | 1372 | 319 | 171.50 | 6 | 2 |
| DG Bradman & WH Ponsford (Aus) | Eng | 6 | 1012 | 451 | 168.66 | 2 | 1 |
| DPMD Jayawardene & KC Sangakkara (SL) | SA | 8 | 1304 | 624 | 163.00 | 4 | 2 |
| Javed Miandad & Zaheer Abbas (Pak) | Ind | 13 | 1137 | 287 | 103.36 | 4 | 3 |
| ML Hayden & RT Ponting (Aus) | SA | 13 | 1135 | 201 | 94.58 | 4 | 6 |
| B Mitchell & AD Nourse (SA) | Eng | 17 | 1300 | 190 | 86.66 | 4 | 6 |
| JB Hobbs & H Sutcliffe (Eng) | Aus | 30 | 2452 | 283 | 84.55 | 11 | 9 |
More from rediff