Waqar Younis

Waqar Younis

Personal information
Full name	Waqar Younis Maitla
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Batting	Right hand bat
Bowling	Right arm fast
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	Pakistan
Test debut (cap 111)	15 November 1989 v India
Last Test	2 January 2003 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 71)	14 October 1989 v West Indies
Last ODI	4 March 2003 v Zimbabwe
ODI shirt no.	99
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2003-2004	Allied Bank Limited
2003	Warwickshire
2001-2003	National Bank of Pakistan
2000-2001	Lahore Blues
1999-2000	REDCO Pakistan Limited
1998-1999	Rawalpindi
1998-1999	Karachi
1997-1998	Glamorgan
1990-1993	Surrey
1988-1989, 1996-1997	United Bank Limited
1987-1988, 1997-1998	Multan
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 87 262 228 411 Runs scored 1010 969 2972 1553 Batting average 10.20 10.30 13.38 10.42 100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/6 0/0 Top score 45 37 64 45 Balls bowled 16224 12698 39181 19841 Wickets 373 416 956 675 Bowling average 23.56 23.84 22.33 22.36 5 wickets in innings 22 13 63 17 10 wickets in match 5 0 14 0 Best bowling 7/76 7/36 8/17 7/36 Catches/stumpings 18/0 35/0 58/0 56/0
Source: CricketArchive, 11 January 2008

Waqar Younis Maitla (Urdu: وقار یونس, born 16 November 1971) is a former Pakistani right arm fast bowler in cricket and widely regarded as one of the best fast bowlers of all time.

He was best known in cricket for his ability to reverse swing a cricket ball at high speed when bowling at the cricket pitch. He took 373 Test wickets and 416 One Day International wickets during his career. He is considered to be the best exponent of the swing bowling delivery. Younis has the best strike rate for any bowler with over 200 Test wickets. He worked as a bowling coach with the national side from 2006 to 2007.

Younis was appointed as the coach of the Pakistan cricket team on 3 March 2010. His managerial contract with the Pakistan Cricket Board will take part in all forms of cricket, right up to December 2011, which will include all professional competitions, such as the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

Early and personal life

Younis was born in Vehari, Punjab in Pakistan and he was educated in Sadiq Public School in Bahawalpur in Pakistan, the Pakistani College in Sharjah and the Government College University in Vehari. He was raised in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, where his father was a contract worker. He returned to Pakistan during his adolescent years and there, he started playing cricket.

He is married with a son and two daughters and now lives in Kellyville, in North-Western Sydney in Australia. Younis has also worked as a television sports commentator for the Nine Network in Australia and for Ten Sports in the United Arab Emirates.

Cricket and coaching career

Younis began his cricket career in Pakistan, playing for several First-class cricket clubs. However he suffered an injury when he had cut and removed his little finger on his left hand, after he had jumped into a canal. He recovered from this accident and went on to continue his sporting career. He was eventually discovered by former Pakistan captain, Imran Khan and was selected to be part of the national side. The turning point of his career happened in England, during the late 1980s and early 1990s, when he played for Surrey County Cricket Club. There he displayed excellent cricketing performances and attracted attention from the sporting public.

He made his International cricket debut for Pakistan against India on 15 November 1989, in the same match that Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar also made his debut. Younis took 4 wickets in the drawn match including the wickets of Tendulkar and Kapil Dev. He made an immediate impression with his speed and became known in the cricket media as "Wiki" or the "Burewala Express". Younis along with Wasim Akram opened the bowling attack regularly for Pakistan, becoming a feared and potent attack. His most recognized delivery was an inswinging yorker. At his peak, he developed into a very quick fast bowler and also became famous for achieving a hat-trick in a One Day International match against New Zealand in 1994. During the early periods of 2000, he stayed out of the Pakistan team for a brief period allegedly due to suspension and conflicts with bowling partner and captain Wasim Akram. His return to cricket came with him being appointed the captain of Pakistan, a position he held until his team failed to make an impact in the 2003 Cricket World Cup. He retired from cricket in 2003 after the Pakistan Cricket Board persistently ignored him for national selection.

In March 2006, he was appointed as the bowling coach for Pakistan. He resigned from this position on 6 January 2007 in protest against the Pakistan Cricket Board decision to retain him only for the Test series against South Africa and not for the subsequent series of five One Day International matches. He was re-appointed as Pakistan's bowling and fielding coach for their tour of Australia in December 2009.

In February 2010, Younis was appointed the head coach of Pakistan after Intikhab Alam was sacked as coach, due to the low-level of performances of the national side during the tour of Australia earlier that year.

Skills in cricket

Younis is one of several Pakistani fast bowlers, beginning with Sarfraz Nawaz, who have been successful at bowling reverse swing. In partnership with Akram, Younis opened the Pakistan bowling attack in the 1990s. Cricket critics and scholars attribute Younis and Akram to be one of the most effective fast bowling partnerships in cricket, due to their ability to swing the ball at high speed. The ability to reverse swing and his speed led to him becoming one of the most talented bowlers in modern cricket.

Younis explained his ability to reverse swing by the manipulation of an old ball; with one side shiny, one side rough, the ball would move in the opposite direction to conventional swing. This led to Younis having the ability to bowl inswingers and outswingers in the cricket pitch and in effect both Younis and Akram became successful in taking wickets by this variation of swing bowling. His fastest delivery in cricket was 153 km/ph or 95.1 mph, a delivery he bowled against South Africa in 1993. He was also effective in the use of bouncers or short pitch deliveries; Younis' bowling against South Africa in Sheikhupura in Pakistan, is remembered for his effective use of the short pitched delivery.

Following Pakistan's victory during the Test match series versus England in 1992, the English media were suspicious of the reverse swing delivery. It was relatively unknown to the cricketing world during that period and this led to accusations of foul play by critics, however cricket officials found no evidence of foul play and the skill of the reverse swing delivery has been accepted in cricket.

Despite his qualities as a fast bowler, he was expensive at times and sometimes lacked the consistency of bowlers such as West Indian fast bowler Curtly Ambrose and Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath. This may be partly due to the mentality of his former captain, Imran Khan, who prioritised aggression and speed.

Award and records

Younis was awarded Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1992 for his sporting achievements. He is also the only bowler to have taken a 5 wickets in an innings in 3 consecutive One Day International matches. He has taken a 5 wicket hauls on 13 occasions in One Day International matches. In terms of deliveries bowled, he has taken the fastest 50, 300, 350 and 400 wickets in One Day International matches and the fastest 150, 200, 250, 300 and 350 wickets in Test matches.

Although primarily a fast bowler, Younis scored 1010 Test match runs during his career. As of September 2005, he was the only non-batsman to achieve a thousand runs without scoring a fifty.

Younis holds the record for the best strike rate for any bowler with over 200 Test wickets.

Cricket controversies

In July 2000 Younis became the first cricketer to be banned for ball tampering and was fined 50% of his match fee.

There has been some controversy about his date of birth and age. According to ESPN cricinfo sports, Younis was born in 1969 and others including Yahoo! Cricket and CricketArchive claims he was born in 1971.

External links

• Waqar Younis at ESPNcricinfo
• Waqar Younis at CricketArchive (subscription required)
• Waqar Younis at Yahoo! Cricket