Waqar Younis

Often referred as the “Sultan of Swing”, Waqar Younis was one of the most dreaded Pakistani fast bowlers of his era. His ability to reverse swing the ball at a very high speed helped him to form the most effective fast bowling partnership with team-mate Wasim Akram in the 1990’s.

Waqar played a lot of first-class cricket for several cricket clubs in Pakistan, but attracted public eye when he first played for English county, Surrey in 1989-90. Discovered by Imran Khan, he soon made his international debut for Pakistan against India on 15th November 1989, the same day when India’s master baster Sachin Tendulkar also debuted. Within no time, he became a regular opening bowler in the side along with Akram and the duo was recognised as the most feared bowling attack. At a deadly pace of 153 km/h, he bowled the most disastrous Yorkers in cricket, aiming right at the stumps instead of the batsman, inspiring the next generation of bowlers such as Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga. His variation from inswingers to outswingers saw him becoming a successful wicket-taking bowler. He was titled as the “Banana Swing” bowler because of his technique of swinging the ball in the air at high speed before hitting the ground.

Suspension and disputes with team-mate Akram ruled Waqar out of action in early 2000. Upon his return, he captained Pakistan for a few years, but stepped down after his team’s terrible performance at the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup. Unable to find lost form, Waqar retired from international cricket in 2004. He then served his country as their bowling coach since 2006, before being named as the head coach of the national team in 2010. The following year, he resigned citing personal reasons. However, a couple of years later, Waqar was appointed bowling consultant of the renamed IPL franchise, Sunrisers Hyderabad.