Birthday special: Waqar Younis – Top 3 spells in international cricket
Nicknamed ‘The Burewala Express’, Waqar Younis is regarded as one of the legends of the sport for his immaculate pace for Pakistan. His ability to reverse swing the ball at lightning speeds was unparalleled and he was one among the two in the ‘Two W’s’ (Wasim Akram and Younis) who formed arguably one the deadliest, most feared bowling duo in the history of the sport. The pace spearhead was known to bowl full and fast with his toe crushers as he brought a paradigm shift in the art of fast bowling during his era. On his 50th birthday, we list some of his most memorable spells for the Men in Green.
7/76 vs New Zealand, 1990
Arguably his best bowling performance came against the Black Caps in the longest format of the sport, which is red-ball cricket. Waqar swiftly decked the New Zealand batting line-up as the side were bowled out for 217 in the first innings in their response to Pakistan’s initial innings. In his spell during the first innings, Waqar scalped as many as seven wickets for the side and then nearly replicated the same in the fourth innings of the same test match. As New Zealand began their chase in the fourth innings, Waqar Younis yet again was the standout performer as he bagged a five-wicket haul, handing the Men in Green a victory by 66 runs.
7/86 vs New Zealand, 1990
Waqar found New Zealand his soft target to scalp as many wickets as possible during his stint with the national side. In the same test series, just the one prior to the aforementioned, Waqar racked up seven wickets in the first Test match. The pacer did not allow the Kiwis to settle down as he kept getting the major breakthroughs in quick time for the side.
7/36 vs England, 2001
Waqar’s love affair with the number ‘7’ continued yet again years later but this time to England in the 50-over format of the sport. Marking one of his best ODI bowling performances, Waqar scalped 7 wickets that fell like pins as he only gave away a mere 36 runs in his stipulated 10 overs. England were outright terrified by the sheer dominance displayed by the Burewala Express as Pakistan eventually won the match with ease thanks to Waqar’s magical spell.
