Waqar Younis Maitla was born on November 16, 1971, in Vehari, Pakistan. He is a right-arm medium bowler who is regarded as one of the best pace bowlers in the game’s history. His success was undeniably attributed to his late inswings combined with fast pace; his deliveries were built to drop as a yorker and swing at the last moment, making it exceedingly difficult for the batsman to read and respond. It’s no joke that he took 373 test wickets in just 87 test matches and 416 in just 262 ODI matches, showing his cricketing prowess.
Background
Waqar was raised by his father, a contract worker in the United Arab Emirates, but he returned to Pakistan when he was a teenager and began playing cricket.
He started his cricketing career playing first-class cricket with a number of clubs.
Debut
Waqar made his debut against India at the National Stadium in November 1989, and he quickly demonstrated his bowling abilities by taking four crucial wickets in the first innings, including Sanjay Manjrekar, Manoj Prabhakar, Sachin Tendulkar, and Kapil Dev. However, the match was drawn.
Waqar Younis made his ODI debut a month back, and while he didn’t manage to take any wickets and only bowled four overs against the West Indies, he was very economical.
Rise to Glory
Waqar and Wasim Akram were a lethal bowling pair, and their relationship was called the “Burewala Express.” Waqar bowled with ferocious pace in his youth, and it resulted in his game when he took a hat-trick against New Zealand in an ODI in 1994. Waqar’s bowling style varied from those of most other fast bowlers in that instead of pitching the ball low, he bowled full-length balls directed at the batsman’s toes. He revolutionised the way pace bowlers used to play.
Low Points
Waqar’s career, while impressive, was not without flaws. Due to differences with his partner and captain, Akram, he was forced to leave Pakistan’s squad at the start of the year 2000. He was suspended and fined half of the match fee in July of the same year for ball tampering. Waqar’s 2003 World Cup was also a difficult time for him, as he was forced to retire from bowling after delivering a beamer at Australian player Andrew Symonds.
Club Career
Waqar attracted a lot of attention in England in the 1990s when he played domestic cricket for Surrey. In 1991, he bowled 582 overs and took 113 wickets alone, bearing the club’s bowling attack on his shoulders. In 1997, he won the English County Championship while playing for Glamorgan.
Captaincy
Waqar was elected Pakistan’s captain at the age of 22, and he led the team to victory in 17 tests and 62 One-Day Internationals.
Retirement
Waqar had a poor finish to his career, announcing his retirement in April 2004 shortly after Pakistan was eliminated from the 2003 World Cup. After retiring, he became Pakistan’s bowling coach in March 2006, but resigned after a year to pursue a career as a commentator.
He was re-appointed as Pakistan’s bowling and fielding coach in December 2009, and later became the head coach. However, due to Pakistan’s poor results and personal reasons, he was forced to leave after the 2011 World Cup.
He became the bowling coach for the Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL team in March 2013. Waqar was re-appointed as Pakistan’s head coach in May 2014.