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By
BV Swagath
Waqar Younis, the man with the lethal toe
crunchers, who had dismantled many stumps in his illustrious
career, would certainly have his name written in golden
letters in cricket history. Waqar’s career is no less than
staggering with as many as 789 International wickets and 956
first class wickets. 15th of November 1989, the National
Stadium at Karachi became the venue for the debut of two
teenage sensations. One was Sachin Tendulkar for India and the
other was a raw fast bowler from a small town Burewala of
Punjab state – the eighteen year
old Waqar Younis. Sanjay Manjrekar nicked the
ball behind to the wicket keeper Saleem Yousuf and that was
the 1st of many wickets to come for Waqar Younis in Test Match
Cricket. A great beginning indeed for a great career with
Waqar dismissing four Indian batsmen in a devastating spell of
fast bowling.
A long and aggressive run-up and the ball released with a
quick slinging and round arm action was the secret of the
brutal pace generated by Waqar Younis. His action also had
several side effects with the regular dangers of stress
fractures to his back. Waqar was soon considered as the
fastest bowler in the world. Many batsmen in the world
preferred their stumps to be cleaned up rather than getting
their toes crunched! So lethal was this man, and in the early
90s formed the most deadly fast bowling pair ever seen in
cricket. Wasim Akram was the other half of the two Ws which
destroyed many batting line ups.
All Waqar needed was to bowl 4-5 perfect
yorkers and the match would turn head over its heels in favour
of Pakistan . There was no stopping to this man who earned the
nickname- The BUREWALA BOMBER. Pitch conditions whether fast
or slow, lively or docile, bouncy or low bounce, never
mattered to this express pace bowler. His strength was the
late movement he got coupled with his lethal pace. Most of his
wickets had come through lbw's or bowled, indicating the way
he attacked the stumps and to what extent his bowling depended
on the pitch conditions. His stint in the English County
circuit with top class teams like Surrey and Glamorgan helped
him realize that pace without accuracy and direction is
meaningless. The English Circuit provided him the ideal base
from where he built up his furious and deadly reverse swinging
yorkers.
He was the master of Reverse Swing with those big inswinging
yorkers which would start swinging from outside the off stump
to the base of the leg stump! There are very few cricketers
whose careers were devoid of any controversies and Waqar’s was
no exception to that. Controversies like ball tampering to
match fixing to drug allegations to conflicts with his
friend-turned-foe Wasim Akram were always a part of his
career. But they are only different facets of a cricketer and
Waqar would be remembered mostly for his devastating Yorkers
more than anything else.
Waqar Younis and World Cups do not gel well and how true it
was. He couldn’t make the 1992 World Cup after a stress
fracture in his back. In the 1996 World Cup, Waqar’s career
took a U Turn after Ajay Jadeja took him to the cleaners in
the Quarterfinal match at Bangalore . He was no longer the
most feared fast bowler and with time passing by, the great
bowler lost his rhythm and with that his pace. The 1999 World
Cup in England , Waqar for some strange reasons got only one
game to play and that was against Bangladesh . Waqar was a
good fighter and what if he didn’t have that brutal pace? He
still managed to take wickets by modifying his action
slightly. He concentrated on getting his arm straight and
releasing the ball with an upright seam. Success followed and
Waqar Younis was at the helm of the things again, as he was
named as the skipper for the 2003 World Cup. But history
repeats itself and yet another disastrous World Cup for this
spirited cricketer, as Pakistan couldn’t make it to the Super
Sixes. He made an attempt of reviving his career for Pakistan
by again playing county cricket for Warwickshire in 2003 as an
overseas pro, but failed to live upto the expectations of the
Pakistani selectors, as he lost favour and never played for
Pakistan after the World Cup debacle.
Not a great ending to what was a great career, but Waqar
Younis and his bowling in the early 90s would be remembered
for years to come. He still has the best strike rate in test
cricket. Cricketfundas.com appreciates the entertainment Waqar
Younis has provided to cricket fans and wish him all success
in whatever profession he takes up.
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