Waqar Younis: Like lightning - A statistical analysis of the King of Reverse Swing

One Day Internationals

Quick and pinpoint accuracy

Excellent as he was in Test matches, Waqar’s ODI exploits are a notch above his Test performances. To this date, he remains one of the only 4 bowlers to have taken more than 400 ODI wickets (Muralitharan, Wasim Akram and Chaminda Vaas are the others).

Younis’ peak as an ODI bowler was the 7 and half year period between 1 May 1990 and 5 Nov 1997. His tally of 243 wickets is comfortable ahead of the second placed Wasim Akram (211), his strike rate is bettered only by team-mate Saqlain Mushtaq and only Saqlain, Wasim and Donald have a better average.Table 10: Top ODI bowlers (1 May 1990 – 5 Nov 1997)

Bowler	Matches	Wickets	Average	S/R	4W	5W
Waqar Younis	141	243	22.10	29.0	9	8
Wasim Akram	140	212	21.83	34.6	11	3
Anil Kumble	124	167	27.09	39.6	5	2
Javagal Srinath	123	158	28.96	40.4	2	2
Allan Donald	89	150	22.08	32.2	5	2
Aaqib Javed	119	138	30	42.1	2	4
Curtly Ambrose	111	136	25.02	43.3	2	2
Saqlain Mushtaq	71	133	19.69	27.6	5	4
Shane Warne	76	129	22.16	33.0	9	1
Sanath Jayasuriya	136	123	33.39	41.0	3	2

Waqar’s ability to take wickets by the handful is amply reflected in ODIs too. Waqar holds the record for having taken the most 5-fors in ODI history (13), and Muttiah Muralitharan is the only other bowler to have taken 10 or more. Waqar has also taken the most number of wickets (127) in 4 and 5 wicket haul in ODIs, followed by Murali (112) and Lee (101).

The opposition Waqar tormented most during his career was the New Zealand side, against whom he took 79 wickets in 37 matches. The 5 five-fors he took against them is also a record for the most taken against one opposition in ODIs.

Waqar is one of the most formidable match-winners in ODI history, his tally of 278 wickets in wins is surpassed only by Murali, Akram, Mcgrath, Lee and Pollock.

Table 11: Most Wickets in ODI wins

Bowler	Matches	Wickets	Average	S/R	4W	5W
Muttiah Muralitharan	202	368	18.23	29.7	13	9
Wasim Akram	199	326	18.86	30.5	12	6
Glenn McGrath	171	301	17.94	29.4	8	7
Brett Lee	153	297	20.54	26.7	12	8
Shaun Pollock	191	290	19.67	35.1	10	2
Waqar Younis	149	278	18.76	25.9	10	11
Shahid Afridi	218	277	25.55	35.3	4	9
Chaminda Vaas	168	228	22.16	35.1	6	3
Sanath Jayasuriya	233	222	27.53	37	7	2
Shane Warne	124	214	21.43	31.4	9	1

Pakistan’s remarkable ODI fortunes in the 1990s were contributed to, apart from its top players, by one venue; Sharjah. Not only has Pakistan won more matches than any opposition (79), but amongst teams which have played at least 20 matches there, Pakistan has the highest Win/Loss ratio (1.975) as well, followed by Australia (1.75) and West Indies (1.00).

Driving Pakistan’s victories was Waqar Younis whose 122 wickets at Sharjah remains the most wickets by a bowler on a single ground in ODI history, followed by Wasim Akram (114) at Sharjah and Shakib Al Hasan (94) at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium, Mirpur.

It would not be fair to say that Waqar Younis’ stature is that of a path-breaker. Waqar was one of the first bowlers who did away with the West Indian formula of intimidatory short-pitched bowling and revelled in a brand of bowling fast, full-pitched deliveries aimed at the stumps.

Many bowlers have tried to emulate his mastery, but it is a testament to his genius that few have matched this skill which he once said he picked during his college days.

Waqar was, and remains, a giant of the game in every sense of the word.

(Statistics from ESPNCricinfo)