Waqar Younis: the Burewala Express who changed fast bowling

In the early 1990s, the biggest question for the world’s batsmen was how to survive Waqar Younis’s fast, inswinging yorker. Coming from a small town in Punjab, the young man changed the meaning of fast bowling with his pace, his aggression and his ability to bend the old ball late. His partnership with Wasim Akram is counted among the most successful bowling pairs in cricket history, and his 373 Test wickets and 416 One-day International wickets are proof of his greatness¹.

Early life and start in cricket

Waqar Younis was born on 16 November 1971 in Burewala, in Vehari district. At school and college he took part in several sports. In cricket he began as a leg-spinner but soon switched to fast bowling. He made his name with the Multan Under-19 team, and had played only a few first-class matches when luck came his way. A match from a local tournament was being shown on television. Imran Khan saw him on TV, came to the ground to watch the end of the match, and the next day told the young bowler he was going to Sharjah with the national team².

His One-day International career began on 14 October 1989 against the West Indies in Sharjah. A month later, on 15 November 1989, he played his first Test against India in Karachi and took 4 wickets for 80 runs in his first innings¹. By coincidence, it was also the first Test of India’s Sachin Tendulkar. His pace drew attention at once and in cricket circles he came to be called the “Burewala Express”².

The years of the fastest bowler

1990 was Waqar Younis’s year. In April he took 6 wickets for 26 runs against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, and a few days later 5 for 20 against New Zealand on the same ground. In October New Zealand toured Pakistan and Waqar was devastating. On 18 October he took 7 wickets for 86 runs in the Lahore Test. On 26 October he took 7 for 76 in Faisalabad, the best bowling figures of his Test career. The run continued in the One-day series, with 5 for 11 in Peshawar on 4 November and 5 for 16 in Sialkot on 6 November¹.

In the same period he played for the English county Surrey, and English spectators saw his pace at close quarters. In 1992 Wisden named him among its Cricketers of the Year. His fast inswinging yorker often hit the batsman’s toes or knocked back the stumps, so he was also called the “Toe Crusher”².

Captaincy and second phase

He was given the captaincy of Pakistan in 1993. On and off until 2003 he led the side in 17 Tests and 62 One-day Internationals. In the Test against Zimbabwe in Karachi in December 1993 he took 7 wickets for 91 runs in one innings and 6 for 44 in the other. His 13 wickets for 135 runs in the match remain his best match figures¹.

The 1994 tour of New Zealand was also successful. He took 6 wickets for 78 runs in the Christchurch Test and 6 for 30 in a One-day International in Auckland. That year he also took a hat-trick against New Zealand in a One-day International². In August 1994, his 6 wickets for 34 runs in Kandy, Sri Lanka, count among his best spells¹.

After a back injury his pace was not what it had been, but experience and swing made up for it. He won the English County Championship with Glamorgan, and in March 1998 took 6 wickets for 78 runs in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), South Africa¹. He was part of the Pakistan team that reached the final of the 1999 World Cup².

The June 2001 tour of England showed that he still had plenty left. On 17 June in Leeds he took 7 wickets for 36 runs in 10 overs against England, his best One-day bowling, and two days later 6 for 59 against Australia in Nottingham. In January 2002 his 6 wickets for 55 runs against Bangladesh in the Dhaka Test was his last major Test performance. His last Test was against South Africa in Cape Town on 2 January 2003, and his last One-day International was against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on 4 March 2003¹.

Statistics

Source: ESPNcricinfo Statsguru¹. The figures are for his international career.

Impact and legacy

The most striking aspect of Waqar Younis’s bowling was how quickly he took wickets. In Test cricket he took a wicket every 43.4 balls on average, and in One-day Internationals every 30.5 balls¹. Very few fast bowlers have sent batsmen back to the pavilion so quickly. His weapon was simple but deadly: a ball delivered at full pace that reverse-swung at the last moment towards the batsman’s feet or stumps.

The art of reverse swing with the old ball, which began with Sarfraz Nawaz and passed to Imran Khan, became famous around the world through Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis². Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga said in 2011 that he learnt to bowl the yorker by watching Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram⁴.

In 2013 Waqar Younis was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame, joining Hanif Mohammad, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram²³. The bowler from Burewala made fast bowling in Pakistan more than a dream. He made it a tradition, and the boys who still take a long run-up in the streets to bowl yorkers are its continuation.