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Happy birthday Waqar Younis: Perhaps Waqar Yunus was destined to achieve greatness. Legendary Pakistan skipper Imran Khan first saw a young Waqar while bowling in a televised local match. Khan immediately took Waqar under his tutelage and gave him his ODI and Test debuts.
Waqar went on to become one of the greatest fast bowlers in the game and formed a dangerous combination with Wasim Akram. He finished with 416 ODI runs – the third highest overall. The grouper also underwent 373 scalp tests. Waqar’s ability to reflexively swing the ball at such good pace can irritate the best players in the world.
Known as “The Burewala Express”, Waqar was known for his fast pace and long runs. Waqar Masoum kept his best for arch-rival India. On his 50th birthday today, November 16th, let’s take a look back at some of his best spells against India.
4/80 in the First Test, India’s tour of Pakistan (Karachi, 1989)
On his Test debut, Waqar Younis proved he belonged in international cricket. Waqar took four wickets in India’s first innings which included the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar who was also making his Test debut in this match. While the match ended in a draw, Waqar showed glimpses of his greatness in his first Test match.
5/31 in the 4th ODI, Coca-Cola Cup (Sharjah, 2000)
Waqar Younis produced a match winning spell in this crucial match for the Coca-Cola Cup. Chasing a grueling target of 273 runs, the Indians batters couldn’t handle the pace of the whopper. After skipper Sourav Ganguly was dismissed in the fourth innings, Waqar passed the Indian middle order and ended up with 5/31. Reverence propelled his team to certain victory.
4/42 in the third ODI, Australian Cup (Sharjah, 1990)
Pakistan managed to defend a sub-par total of 235 due to Waqar Younis’s spell of 4/42. Waqar took important wickets from Navjot Sidhu, Kapil Dev and Ravi Shastri to block India.
3/21 in India’s second ODI tour of Pakistan (Gujranwala, 1989)
After the match was reduced to 16 for each side, Pakistan put on a competitive total of 87 runs. Waqar Younis dismissed a menacing-looking Chris Srikanth early in the innings to put pressure on India. Waqar then picked the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar and Ravi Shastri to tilt the match in favor of India. Skipper Imran Khan then cleaned the tail as Pakistan took an impressive 7-run victory.
3/44 in the fourth ODI, Sharjah Cup (Sharjah, 1996)
Sachin Tendulkar went on a rampage in this match and hit a great century. While all of the Pakistani bowlers were smashed, Waqar Younis was the only bowler who looked effective. He didn’t leak many runs and eventually dismissed Tendulkar on 118. Despite Waqar’s exploits, India put 305 runs on the board. Pakistan lost the match, but Waqar again impressed everyone by giving up just 44 runs and taking three wickets.
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