Stargazing by Ravi Shastri

Author:Ravi Shastri
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: null
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2021-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

THUNDERBOLT UNLEASHED

Waqar Younis

Fast bowlers are most dangerous when they hunt in pairs. The West Indies in the 1980s went a step ahead and used a four-man pace attack that earned them unchecked success. But this was an aberration. To have so many bowlers of similar wicket-taking quality in all conditions is an act of fortune.

Generally, if a team has even two incisive fast bowlers – and a spinner or two in support – it will win more matches than lose. Ray Lindwall–Keith Miller, Fred Trueman–Brian Statham, Dennis Lillee–Jeff Thomson and, in recent times, James Anderson–Stuart Broad are some of the great pairs that have made a huge difference to the results of the matches they’ve played in. They’ve also made fast bowling thrilling to watch, though the batsmen who faced these bowlers would not have felt as enthusiastic.

I’ve held back one pair from the list above; I can’t make up my mind if this wasn’t the most destructive combination ever. Since there’s no yardstick by which an answer to this can be found, I’ll take the easy way out: in my time, there was no deadlier duo than Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.

I’ve already mentioned how Wasim was the best fast bowler I had faced after Malcolm Marshall. In the cluster of great fast bowlers, Waqar isn’t too far behind either. When the two bowled from opposite ends, it was a furious assault of pace, swing, yorkers and bouncers that left little scope for batsmen to escape.

I remember one match, in particular, between Pakistan and England at the Oval in 1992. Even on TV, their bowling was breathtaking. Wasim cleaned up the England batting in the first innings, taking 6 wickets, while Waqar blew away the top order in the second innings in which he took 5 wickets. Between them, they took 15 wickets in the match; England lost by 10 wickets.

In this partnership, Waqar was not a foil to Wasim but an equal. In fact, for the first few years after they came together, he was perhaps feared more because of his greater pace and hostility, which began with his long, sprinting – and somewhat menacing – run up. Firing thunderbolts with late swing that crushed the toes and souls of batsmen, Waqar was often unplayable at his peak in the 1990s. Again, because he was essentially a swing bowler, his success was not dependent on the pitch.

Waqar made his Test debut against us at Karachi, the same match in which Sachin Tendulkar too made his entry into international cricket. There was a great deal of interest around these two young players who had already built a reputation for themselves.

Imran Khan, always on the lookout for new talent, had fast-tracked Waqar into the Pakistan team and there was a buzz when the young bowler took the field for the first Test. The entire Indian team was in the porch of the dressing room to see him take the new ball because of what we had heard about him.

Waqar was

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