THE BOMBER FROM BUREWALA
A Tribute to Waqar Younis by Swagi https://cricketfundas.com
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.