The last Legendy Truly Fast Bowler Retires! Waqar Younis moves on

[Bouncer]

Former Pakistan captain Waqar Younis has told the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that he would be announcing his retirement from all cricket after the second Test match against India.

Sources in the board said that Waqar had spoken to chief executive Rameez Raja on Tuesday on telephone and informed him that he wanted to announce his retirement from all cricket shortly after the second Test ends in Lahore.

"Waqar is in India at the moment doing some work for an Indian television channel but he is planning to come to Lahore and announce his retirement," the source said.

Waqar, who formed one of cricket history’s best fast bowling pair with Wasim Akram has been ignored by the selectors since he failed to take Pakistan beyond the first round in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa as captain.

Since the World Cup Waqar has been putting off his retirement although Wasim also dropped after that tournament announced his retirement last year.

The source said that the decision by Waqar to retire so suddenly may have been influenced by the Board who is keen to appoint him as bowling coach with the senior team something that would not have been possible with him continuing to play first class cricket. Waqar who took 373 wickets in 87 Tests and another 416 wickets in 262 one-day internationals played domestic cricket earlier this year in a bid to win back his place in the Pakistan team for the India series.

 

[NikhilN]

Well this was surely coming...

 

[Sehwag309]

I thought he already did, oh well. See ya

 

[Lions81]

It's sad to see him go, but it surely was time. Pakistan has a new generation of pace bowlers to lead them, and Younis had lost some significant pace. He really did revolutionize fast bowling, especially on the subcontinent. Despite what Akram has inspired in left-armers, the vast majority of people are right-armers, and so must surely have envisioned themselves bowling more like Younis than Akram.

 

[luckyeddie]

Now THERE is a bowler.

I home he leaves the game BEAMING from ear to ear.

Have a good one, Thwaqar. I know the duck was mean to you, but you truly are one of the all-time greats.

<quack> Me?

 

[masterblaster]

Waqar Younis = Simply Brilliant

A true legend of the game, deserved to play for atleast a few more years.

 

[tooextracool]

btw its spelled "Legendary"

cant say i never saw it coming. he was an awesome fast bowler from 90-96...after which he barely deserved a place in the side let alone captaincy.

 

[Linda]

Mighty Waqar has always been a bit of a favourite of mine (besidies THOSE couple of deliveries to Symo...!), so its sad to see him [finally] go.

 

[imranrabb]

Its sad to see him go but what a great bowler he was.When he first burst onto the scene he was one of the quickest the world had seen.But he was best known for his in swinging yorkers.Him and Akram were one of the best bowlers to bowl in tandem.

 

[Sehwag309]

A cool quote from an article written about him

"In 87 Tests he took 373 wickets at 23.50 and 416 in 262 one-day internationals.

That swinging yorker made the students of the game turn to graphics to unravel his craft by a study of aero-dynamics. At least at two science exhibitions, one at our Nehru Centre and another at the Cape Town centre I saw exhibits about reverse swing."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-604718,curpg-3.cms

 

[ajaagarkarajaaja]

I think he was a good bowler with old ball but not that good with new one. Akram was more taleneted and had more class than Waqar.

Anyway, there is no pacer of the quality of Waqar in Pak team now.

 

[luckyeddie]

I think he was a good bowler with old ball but not that good with new one. Akram was more taleneted and had more class than Waqar.

Anyway, there is no pacer of the quality of Waqar in Pak team now.

Waqar was absolute mustard with the old ball, but he could seam it about too. Much of his achievements are likely to be soiled because of certain 'revelations' in the press at the moment.

I don't know what you are getting at with respect to 'class' as both, IMO, were classy performers both on and off the pitch.

I agree that there is no pacer in the Pakistan side at present to match the Ws. I'd go as far as saying that there have been few pacemen from the entire sub-continent ever to come close.

 

[luckyeddie]

Mighty Waqar has always been a bit of a favourite of mine (besidies THOSE couple of deliveries to Symo...!), so its sad to see him [finally] go.

Can't resist this....

Breadcrumb moment - Waqar Younis (Pakistan)

First ball of the 49th over, Waqar steams in to Andrew Symonds - beamer!!! The centurion takes evasive action before grovelling a couple of byes off the no-ball. Ah well, accidents happen.
Second ball is in the slot, and beautifully caught by the fat old bloke in the stand.
<luckyeddie> I think you're wrong there, DD. That was in the next over when Symonds swatted Wasim into the crowd. This one was flat over long-on and just crossed the rope.
Quiet, LE. It's called 'writers privilege'
<luckyeddie> Writers privilege?
A bit like 'poetic licence'. I'm 'setting the scene'.
<luckyeddie> Yes, but you still have to be accurate.
It's never stopped you in the past. Anyway, next ball, a single. Boo, Symonds is off strike.
Next ball, Brett Lee duly obliges by skying the ball to deep midwicket. Inzy plays his part by pouching the catch - and what a pouch it is nowadays!!!
Symonds back on strike, the ball - right on the money - another beamer!!! Ah well. Accidents happen twice. A bit like running an old lady over on a zebra crossing then reversing back over her to make sure, only this is slightly funnier. Symonds is not happy. The wicket might be comfortable to play shots on, but it's not the greatest of places to have a lie down. Umpire Shep's reaction - "GET OFF!!!". Symonds said "...OFF" as well, but it wasn't "GET...".
Er, someone else (Shahid Afridi actually, but nobody cares) completes the over.
This is such a boring tournament - so many action replays.

 

[Dasa]

btw its spelled "Legendary"

By the way, it's spelt 'overrated', and 'spelt' is preferred to 'spelled'.

Yes, Waqar was a great bowler.

 

[Linda]

Andrew Symonds is scary when angered. Whoever advised Waqar to throw those ones at him was clearly funked in the head.

 

[ReallyCrazy]

Waqar Younis was truly an amazing bowler. I think he's got the best strike rate in the world. I loved his inswinging yorkers. I remember the time when when pakistan toured new zealand sometime in the early 90s and were 160 all out. New Zealand needed 1 run to win with 3 wickets in hand (i think). Waqar steams in to bowl and gets the last 3 wickets! And the match ends in a tie! I admired him so much I copied his action.

 

[deeps]

He was a legend...at his best, i reckon the most devasting bowler in teh world in his prime...i absolutely loved watching his late inswing yorkers... Does any1 know wehre i can download some clips off him bowling at his best? and around wat speeds did he bowl???

 

[Mecnun]

Simply an amazing bowler and a true joy to watch. I agree here with most of poster's above , he is one of the all time great fast bowlers. He terrorised the English county and international batsmen and the term 'waqared' was coined to describe his toe crushing yorkers. He inspired teams into minute graphical and scientific analysis of his action and bowling to counter his yorkers. He terrorised Robin Smith in England. He singlehandedly won matches for Pakistan. I will always remeber one of his spells in England where he took out four top batters in ENgland's second innings in space of 6 or 7 overs. I forget the rest of the series or when it was ..Gower did not even play a shot and his castle was taken with a new ball that pitched well outside off stupm and almost turned square..jog any memories? I am pretty sure Gower retired or was dropped after that series.

He was taking 5 wickets every second innings he played when he ws on top. He broke quitea few records at county and international. Waqar's differences with Wasim were destructive for Pakistan and also his achievements. If he had carried on I am convinced he would have broken alot more records. Even though I am not a stats and records person and believe performances against qaulity opposition count alot more and do not always reveal a player's true brilliance in analysis of figures.

He is in my top five all time bowlers list:
Dennis lille, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram and Richard Hadlee.

Good luck to Waqar in his future, Pak fans will always remeber you with fond memories!


rgrds

 

[Tony Blade]

He was a legend...at his best, i reckon the most devasting bowler in teh world in his prime...i absolutely loved watching his late inswing yorkers... Does any1 know wehre i can download some clips off him bowling at his best? and around wat speeds did he bowl???

Me 2 me 2. I was just wondering if there was a site where I could also get clips of some other great deliveries[non-streaming preferably]..like Shane Warne's against Mike Gatting, and the one Bouncer has as his avatar.

 

[tooextracool]

Me 2 me 2. I was just wondering if there was a site where I could also get clips of some other great deliveries[non-streaming preferably]..like Shane Warne's against Mike Gatting, and the one Bouncer has as his avatar.

heres a site with some decent clips...i wouldnt call them classic deliveries or anything but its decent.
http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/cricket/