WAQAR YOUNIS

'Waqar Younis' (Urdu: 'وقار یونس') (born November 16, 1971 as 'Waqar Younis Maitla') is a Pakistani cricketer, a fast bowler, from Burewala, Punjab. He is regarded as one of the greatests fast bowler produced by Pakistan. At his peak, he received international acclaim for his ability to reverse swing the ball. He attended Sadiq Public School in Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Pakistani College, Sharjah and Government College, Vehari. Playing as a fast bowler, he took 373 Test wickets and 416 wickets in One-day Internationals.

Contents

Career

Masters of Reverse Swing

International Records

Controversies and Trivia

References

External links

Career

He debuted for Pakistan against India on November 15, 1989. He made an immediate impression with his pace, and was promptly nicknamed in the media as the "Burewala Express". Later, along with Wasim Akram, Younis opened bowling regularly for Pakistan, becoming a feared and potent attack. His most recognized delivery was an in-swinging yorker. At his peak, he developed into a devastaing bowler towards the closing stages of the one day game, famously taking a hat-trick against South Africa in 1992. Waqar Younis holds the record for the highest strike rate among bowlers with 200 or more wickets. During the late 90's, he stayed out of the team for quite a long time allegedly due to his alleged conflicts with once bowling partner and captain Wasim Akram. His comeback came with him being appointed the Captain of the national side - a position he held till his side failed to make an impact in the 2003 World Cup. He retired after the Pakistan Cricket Board persistently ignored him for national selection.
In March, 2006 he was appointed as the bowling coach for Pakistan^[1]. He resigned from this position on January 6, 2007 in order to protest against PCB's decision to retain him only for the Test series against South Africa and not for the subsequent series of five ODIs.^[1]

Masters of Reverse Swing

Waqar is one of a long line of Pakistanis (starting with Sarfraz Nawaz) who have been effective at using the art of reverse swing. In partnership with Wasim Akram, Younis spearheaded the Pakistan bowling attack in the early to mid 90's. Many attribute Younis and Akram to be one of the most effective fast bowling partnerships in the 1990s, due to their ability to swing the ball back into the batsmen, better known as reverse swing. The ability to reverse swing and his explosive speed lead to him becoming one of the most talented fast bowlers in modern cricketing history.
Younis explained his ability to reverse swing by the manipulation of an old ball; with one side shiny, one side old, the ball would angle back into the respective batsman. This led to Younis having the ability to swing the ball both ways, and in effect both Akram and Younis became successful in taking wickets by this variation of swing-bowling.He was also effective in the use of short bowling;Waqar Younis's bowling against South Africa in Sheikhupura, Pakistan, is remembered for his effective use of the short-pitched delivery.
Following their 1992 series versus England, the English media, were suspicious of the then 'mysterious' art of reverse swing. This led to cries of foul play and allegations of "ball-tampering" from some quarters.
Despite his undoubted qualities as a fast bowler, some believe he can be expensive at times, and sometimes may lack the consistency of bowlers, such as Curtley Ambrose or Glenn McGrath. This may be partly due to the mentality of his former captain, Imran Khan, where wickets were seen as top priority over economy.

International Records

Waqar Younis is the only bowler to have taken 5 wicket hauls in 3 consecutive ODIs. He has taken 4+ wickets on 27 occasions in ODIs, also a record. In terms of balls bowled, he has taken the fastest 50, 300, 350 and 400 wickets in ODI matches and the fastest 150, 200, 250, 300 and 350 wickets in Test matches.
Although primarily a bowler, Waqar scored 1010 Test runs. As of September 2005, Younis was the only man to pass the thousand run mark without ever scoring a fifty. Recently, he has become a television cricket commentator for Australia's Nine Network.
From March 2006 to January 2007, he served as the bowling coach for Pakistan, but quit after only being asked to coach the squad during the course of the test series against South Africa and not the ODIs.^[2]

Controversies and Trivia

★ In 1989 home series against India, he became involved in an incident with the Indian captain, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, who was given out lbw by the umpire off Waqar Younis. Srikanth appeared unhappy with the decision, and reluctantly walked towards the pavilion. Imran Khan, the then Pakistani captain, invited Srikkanth back to the crease, only to be caught behind off Younis on the very next delivery.

★ In July 2000 Waqar Younis was suspended for one game after being found guilty of ball-tampering during the Singer Cup one-day series in Sri Lanka. Waqar, was the first player to be banned for the offence, and was fined 50% of his match fee for lifting the seam off the ball during a game against South Africa in Colombo. ^[3]

★ Following a poor showing in 2003 World Cup, he got involved in an in-media verbal spat with Shoaib Akhtar.

★ He currently lives in Castle Hill, New South Wales, Australia and is a coach at a local cricket club.^[4]

References

1. Waqar resigns as bowling coach. ''Cricinfo.com.'' Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
2. Waqar quits Pakistan coach role. ''BBC News.'' Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
3. Waqar suspended for ball-tampering. ''BBC News.'' Retrieved on 2007-07-01.
4. Waqar swings in for new life on the Hill. ''Sydney Morning Herald.'' Retrieved on 2007-06-15.

External links

★ Mashhur.com - History of the Total International Series 1993 (Pak,SA,WI)

★ Sadiq Public School, Bahawalpur , Pakistan