Fast Bowlers, Pakistan’s strongest suit (Part 3)
In Pakistan, Wasim’s record is phenomenal. He learned the art of fast bowling on the grassless pitches of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755.
He played 41 Test matches at home and took 154 wickets at an average of 22 with a best of 6/48. His tally of 154 wickets includes 8 five-wicket hauls.
Outside his own backyard, he has been even more productive. He featured in 62 Test matches and took 255 wickets at a very impressive average of 24 with the best of 7/119. He has taken 17 five-wicket-hauls.
He is rated by Wisden, the Bible of cricket, as the best ODI bowler of all-time. He was phenomenal with the new ball, and there was never a better sight to see Wasim running in and bowling his yorkers at the death of the innings.
He has gathered an amazing tally of 502 wickets at an average of 23 with an economy rate of 3.89. His tally of 502 wickets includes 6 five-wicket hauls with the best of 5/14.
Pakistan’s World Cup final victory in 1992 in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wasim-Akram-c96292’s legendary status. England was chasing a target of 250, to win the final. At one point England was cruising to victory when they were 141/4 in 34-overs with Allan
Lamb and Neil Fairbrother going along nicely. But Akram’s bowling broke England’s middle order.
Wasim Akram first cleaned Allan Lamb with a beauty, and then he bowled Chirs http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lewis-c72807 with a big in-swinger on the very next ball. His spell of 3/49 in the final changed the fate of the game in favor of Pakistan.
Allan Border said, “If I ever get a chance to be reborn as a cricketer I would want to become Wasim”.
A stunning bowler, he has set the standard for left arm fast bowling.
Waqar Younis
Waqar Younis changed the short pitch theory of fast bowling by pitching it up. He mastered the art of reverse swing. He delivered the ball away from the batsman, it would pitch two feet away from the off-stump, the batsman would leave the ball, and then
the ball would viciously swing back and uproot the off-stump.
He had complete mastery over swing, both with the new and old ball. When the ball was old and was near to reverse, then there was nobody better than Waqar. He had devastated the batsman all around the world with his reverse swing. His swing was backed up
by great pace. He was famous for his toe-crushing yorkers, which many great batsmen around the world have struggled to keep away.
The reverse swing master has a great bowling record in both versions of the game. Overall all, in Test cricket, he has played 87 matches and has gathered 373 Test victims at an average of 23. His tally of 373 victims includes 22 five-wicket-hauls and 5 ten-wicket-hauls
with the best of 7/76 in a single innings, and 13/135 in a match.
Waqar used to aim at the stumps rather than the batsman and that earned him a phenomenal strike rate of 43 which is the 2nd best for a bowler, who has taken more than 200 wickets.
In 33 matches he has played at home, he has a phenomenal record. He has scalped 162 victims at an average of 20 with the best of 7/76. His 162 wickets include 11 five-wicket hauls.
Outside Pakistan, he has featured in 49 Test matches, taking 197 wickets at an average of 25 with the best of 6/34. His tally of 197 victims includes 11 five-wicket-hauls.
He is regarded as the 4th best bowler in the history of ODI cricket. He was the 2nd bowler to take 400 ODI wickets. In all, he has made 262 ODI appearances and has trapped 416 victims at an average of 23 with the best of 7/36. His tally
of 416 wickets includes 13 five-wicket-hauls.
Moreover, he made a formidable bowling partnership with Wasim Akram, which is regarded by many as the greatest fast bowling combination ever. The two W’s, as they were nick named used to hunt as a team.
Richie Benaud said, “Waqar Younis is the best strike force the world has ever seen”.
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