Name:

Waqar Younis

Nickname:

The Toe Crusher

Date of Birth:

16-11-1971

Place of Birth:

Veheri, Punjab

Career:

Test: 1989 - 2003
ODI: 1989 - 2003

Teams:

Pakistan (Country)
Surrey (Regional)

Waqar: King of reverse swing

Waqar Younis: Reverse swing at extreme pace, career clouded by match fixing

Waqar Younis was a right arm fast bowler who is widely regarded as one of the all-time great exponents of reverse swing. He was born on 16 November, 1971 in Burewala, Punjab and attended Pakistani College, Sharjah and Government College, Vehari.

Spotted by Imran Khan in domestic cricket, after just 12 first-class matches he made his Test debut against India at Karachi in November 1989 - the same match in which Sachin Tendulkar debuted. Waqar took four wickets in the first innings - including that of Tendulkar, bowled.

Playing alongside Imran Khan and Wasim Akram helped Waqar develop the supreme skill in being able to reverse swing the old ball at high speeds. He took 373 Test wickets and 416 One Day International wickets during his career. Waqar has the best strike rate for any bowler (43.50 balls per wicket) with over 200 Test wickets.

Waqar had a over half of his test victims bowled (102, 27.3%) or LBW (110, 29.5%) proving that he was lethal even in benign sub-continental conditions with his reverse swing and extreme pace taking the slow pitches out of play. One may even say that his high percentage of bowled victims was due to the ultra attacking Waqar making allowances for the poor fielding by the Pakistani team during this period.

He played for Surrey and in the 1991 season, was at the peak of his powers taking 113 wickets at just 14.65 each. England found him and his team-mate Wasim Akram too hot to handle the following year as Pakistan won the Test series 2-1. A common theme was the reverse swing the bowlers managed to find which frequently saw wickets tumbling after England had made solid starts.

Following a devastating bowling performance in England, Waqar was selected as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1992.

Another highpoint in his career was taking 55 test wickets in 1993. He was plagued by back injuries during the 1990s but continued to be a feared exponent of the late inswinging yorker.

In the early 2000 period, Waqar elected to stay away from the team after falling out with with his bowling partner and captain Wasim Akram. His returned after being appointed as captain of Pakistan but had an unhappy World Cup campaign in 2003 which ended after a 6 wicket defeat by India and figures of 2-71.

Waqar won 17 man of the match awards in ODI's and 6 man of the match awards in tests. He also had the rare honour of taking a hat-trick for Pakistan in 1994 against New Zealand at Buffalo Park when he snared Chris Harris, Chris Pringle and De Groen.

Various accusations on match fixing were aimed at Waqar Younis in the Justice Qayyum report. He was fined for not cooperating and recommended to be "kept under observation".

After retiring at the end of the 2003 World Cup, he worked as a bowling coach with Pakistan from 2006 to 2007 on a part time basis. Waqar settled in Sydney, Australia with his family and worked as a television commentator. Amidst controversy, he  quit the Pakistani bowling coach job in 2007 after a dispute with the PCB and captain Inzamam-ul-Haq.

He was appointed as Pakistani National Coach in 2010 after Inthikab Alam quit following a disastrous tour of Australia.

Career Statistics

Waqar was the fastest bowler to 50, 300, 350 and 400 wickets in ODIs and the fastest ever to 150, 200, 250, 300 and 350 wickets in Tests. He also has the highest numbers of test runs without scoring a fifty.

Source: CricketCrowd Staff Reporter