In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:

Definitions of wicket[link]

Each wicket consists of three stumps, upright wooden poles that are hammered into the ground, topped with two wooden crosspieces, known as the bails.

Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch.^[1] The wicket is guarded by a batsman who, with his bat, attempts to prevent the ball from hitting the wicket.

The origin of the word is from the standard definition of wicket as a small gate. Historically, cricket wickets had only two stumps and one bail and looked like a gate. The third (middle) stump was introduced in 1775.

The size and shape of the wicket has changed several times during the last 300 years and its dimensions and placing is now determined by Law 8 in the Laws of Cricket, thus:

• Law 8: The wickets. The wicket consists of three wooden stumps that are 28 inches (71 cm) tall. The stumps are placed along the batting crease with equal distances between each stump. They are positioned so they are 9 inches (23 cm) wide. Two wooden bails are placed on top of the stumps. The bails must not project more than 0.5 inches (1.3 cm) above the stumps, and must, for men's cricket, be 4+⁵⁄₁₆ inches (10.95 cm) long. There are also specified lengths for the barrel and spigots of the bail. There are different specifications for the wickets and bails for junior cricket. The umpires may dispense with the bails if conditions are unfit (e.g., if it is windy they might fall off by themselves). Further details on the specifications of the wickets are contained in Appendix A to the laws.

Dismissing a batsman[link]

Wicket also refers to the event of a batsman getting out. The batsman is said to have lost his wicket. If dismissed by a bowler, the bowler is said to have taken his wicket. The number of wickets taken is the primary measure of a bowler's ability.

For a batsman to be dismissed by being bowled, run out, stumped or hit wicket, his wicket needs to be put down. What this means is defined by Law 28 of the Laws of cricket. The wicket is put down if a bail is completely removed from the top of the stumps, or a stump is struck out of the ground by the ball, the striker's bat, the striker's person (or by any part of his clothing or equipment becoming detached from his person), a fielder (with his hand or arm, and provided that the ball is held in the hand or hands so used, or in the hand of the arm so used). A 2010 amendment to the Laws clarified the rare circumstance where a bat breaks during the course of a shot and the detached debris breaks the wicket; the wicket has been put down in this circumstance^[2]. The wicket is also put down if a fielder pulls a stump out of the ground in the same manner.

If one bail is off, removing the remaining bail or striking or pulling any of the three stumps out of the ground is sufficient to put the wicket down. A fielder may remake the wicket, if necessary, in order to put it down to have an opportunity of running out a batsman.

If however both bails are off, a fielder must remove one of the three stumps out of the ground with the ball, or pull it out of the ground with a hand or arm, provided that the ball is held in the hand or hands so used, or in the hand of the arm so used.

If the umpires have agreed to dispense with bails, because, for example, it is too windy for the bails to remain on the stumps, the decision as to whether the wicket has been put down is one for the umpire concerned to decide. After a decision to play without bails, the wicket has been put down if the umpire concerned is satisfied that the wicket has been struck by the ball, by the striker's bat, person, or items of his clothing or equipment separated from his person as described above, or by a fielder with the hand holding the ball or with the arm of the hand holding the ball.

Partnership[link]

The sequence of time over which two particular batsmen bat together, a partnership, is referred to as a specifically numbered wicket when discriminating it from other partnerships in the innings.

• The first wicket partnership is from the start of the innings until one of the first two batsmen gets out.
• The second wicket partnership is from when the third batsman gets in until a second batsman gets out.
• etc...
• The tenth wicket or last wicket partnership is from when the eleventh (last) batsman gets in until a tenth (last) batsman gets out.

Winning by number of wickets[link]

A team can win a match by a certain number of wickets. This means that they were batting last, and reached the winning target with a certain number of batsmen still not dismissed. A team's innings ends when ten batsmen are dismissed, so, for example, if the side scored the required number of runs to win with only three batsmen dismissed, they are said to have won by seven wickets.

The pitch[link]

The word wicket is also sometimes used to refer to the cricket pitch itself. According to the Laws of Cricket, this usage is incorrect, but it is in common usage and commonly understood by cricket followers. This usage probably derives from the days when the outfield was kept short by grazing sheep on it and the playing surface, which was specially prepared, was protected from them by a light wicker fence around it. Since many regular grounds had resident bat-makers it is quite possible that the branches cut off from the willow wood used for the bats formed all or part of this fence.^{[citation needed]}

The term sticky wicket refers to a situation in which the pitch has become damp, typically due to rain or high humidity. This makes the path of the ball more unpredictable thus making the job of defending the stumps that much more difficult. The full phrase is thought to have originally been "to bat on a sticky wicket." Such pitches were commonplace at all levels of the game (i.e. up to Test Match level) until the late 1950s.

In other sports[link]

The arches used in croquet and roque are sometimes referred to as wickets, especially in American English. These arches descend from the ancestral game of ground billiards (which may also be related to cricket), and were formerly called the hoop, arch or port. The port remained a prominent feature of indoor table billiards until well into the 18th century.^[3]

See also[link]

Cricket portal

• Cricket terminology

References[link]

Anil Kumble

Anil Kumble
Personal information
Full name	Anil Radhakrishna Kumble
Born	(1970-10-17) 17 October 1970 (age 41) Bangalore, India
Nickname	Jumbo
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm leg break
Role	Bowler and Test captain
International information
National side	India
Test debut (cap 192)	9 August 1990 v England
Last Test	29 October 2008 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 78)	25 April 1990 v Sri Lanka
Last ODI	19 March 2007 v Bermuda
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1989/90 – 2008/09	Karnataka
2006	Surrey
2000	Leicestershire
1995	Northamptonshire
2008–2010	Royal Challengers Bangalore
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	132	271	244	380
Runs scored	2,506	938	5,572	1,456
Batting average	17.77	10.54	21.68	11.20
100s/50s	1/5	0/0	7/17	0/0
Top score	110*	26	154*	30*
Balls bowled	40,850	14,496	66,931	20,247
Wickets	619	337	1,136	514
Bowling average	29.65	30.89	25.83	27.58
5 wickets in innings	35	2	72	3
10 wickets in match	8	N/A	19	N/A
Best bowling	10/74	6/12	10/74	6/12
Catches/stumpings	60/–	85/–	120/–	122/–
Source: espncricinfo, 8 November 2008

Anil Radhakrishna Kumble or Anil Kumble ( pronunciation (help·info); born 17 October 1970) nicknamed "Jumbo",^[1] born in Bangalore, Karnataka is a former Indian cricketer and a captain of the Indian Test Cricket team. He is a right-arm leg spin (legbreak googly) bowler and a right-hand batsman.^[2] He is currently the leading wicket-taker for India in both Test cricket^[3] and One Day International cricket.^[4] He is also the first and the only cricketer in the history of Indian Test Cricket to have taken a 10-wicket haul.^[5] With more than 600 Test wickets, he is the third highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, only the third bowler to achieve this record and the first bowler from India to do so.^[6] Since his debut in international cricket on 25 April 1990, he has taken 619 Test wickets^[3] and 337 ODI wickets.^[4]

Kumble was appointed as the captain of the Indian Test cricket team on 8 November 2007.^[7] He succeeded his state team mate Rahul Dravid, who resigned as the captain in September 2007.^[8] His first series as captain of Indian Test team was a three-match series against Pakistan which was played in India.^[7] The team won that series by 1–0.^[9][10]

He is the second highest wicket taker among leg spinners in Test cricket, other being Shane Warne of Australia. He is one of the two bowlers in the history of cricket to have taken all 10 wickets in a test innings, the other being Jim Laker of England.^[11][12] He was awarded the Padma Shri, India's 4th highest civilian honour, by the Government of India in 2005.^[13] After having played for 18 years, he announced his retirement on 2 November 2008. His last match was against Australia at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi.^[14]

Personal life[link]

Kumble with his family

Anil Kumble was born in Bangalore, Karnataka to KN Krishna Swamy and Saroja.^[15] His family, takes its name from the Kumbla village, located in the Kasaragod district of Kerala.^[16] Kumble has a brother named Dinesh. He is married to Chethana Ramatheertha.^[17] and has two children – son Mayas and daughter Svasti. He also has a step-daughter Aaruni (from Chethana's previous marriage).^[18][19]

Kumble did his primary schooling at Holy Saint English School and his high schooling at National High School, Basavanagudi, Bangalore. He began playing cricket on streets of Bangalore and joined a club called "Young Cricketers" at the age of thirteen.^[20] He completed his Pre-university college education from National College Basavanagudi. Kumble graduated from Rashtreeya Vidyalaya College of Engineering (RVCE) in Mechanical Engineering in 1991–92.^[20] Two of his college team-mates—M.P. Vivek and Rashid Mohsin—went on to have scintillating but short-lived first class careers. He is nicknamed "Jumbo" not only because his deliveries, for a spinner, are "as fast as a Jumbo jet", but also because his feet are quite big or "Jumbo" as observed by his team-mates.^[1]

Career[link]

Early domestic career and international debut[link]

Kumble made his first-class debut for Karnataka against Hyderabad on 30 November 1989, taking four wickets and bagging a pair. He was then selected for India Under-19s against Pakistan Under-19s, scoring 113 in the first test and 76 in the second. He made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka at Sharjah in the Austral-Asia Cup on 25 April 1990.^[21] His Test debut came in the same year when India toured England for a three test series.^[22] It was the second test of the series played at Manchester and he picked up 3 wickets in the match which ended in the draw.^[23] It was during the 1992 Indian tour of South Africa that he established himself as a quality spinner, taking eight wickets in the second Test. All in all he took 18 wickets at the average of 25.94 and with an economy rate of 1.84 in the 4 test series.^[24] Later that year, when England toured India, Kumble took 21 wickets in just three Test matches at an average of 19.8 and an economy rate of 2.30.^[25] He picked up 7/165 in the third test of the series played at Mumbai which resulted in India's victory with an innings and 15 runs.^[26] He was adjudged man of the match for the feat.^[27] Kumble also picked up 13/138 in Irani Trophy against Delhi for Rest of India which resulted in Rest of India's victory.^[28][29]

Kumble took his first 50 Test wickets in just 10 Test matches, the fastest by an Indian bowler. He went on to take 100 Test wickets in 21 Test matches, the second fastest by an Indian bowler^[30] after Erapalli Prasanna. On 27 November 1993, he took 6 wickets for 12 runs in an ODI against the West Indies at Eden Gardens, Calcutta, the best ever bowling performance by an Indian bowler till date.^[31][32]

1996 World Cup[link]

In 1996, the year in which the World Cup was held in Asia, he claimed 61 wickets at an average of 20.24 and an economy rate of 4.06 making it one of the best figures of his career.^[33] He played all the 7 matches in India's campaign for 1996 world cup which was held jointly by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Kumble was the leading wicket taker of the whole tournament with 15 wickets at the average of 18.73.^[34] India opened their campaigned against Kenya in which Kumble picked up 3/28 which helped restricting Kenya for just 199/6 in their 50 overs. India won the match by 7 wickets.^[35] Kumble subsequently picked 3/35 against West Indies,^[36] 2/39 against Sri Lanka in group phase.^[37]

India played against Pakistan in the quarter final phase. In that match Kumble picked up 3/48 and India won.^[38] In the semi final they subsequently lost to Sri Lanka in which Kumble's performance was 1/51.^[39]

Setting records and rise through the ranks[link]

Kumble is one of only two bowlers ever (the only other being Jim Laker of England in 1956) to have taken all ten wickets in a Test innings, taking 10 for 74. Kumble achieved this against Pakistan in the second Test played in Delhi between 4 and 8 February 1999.^[40] Although by failing to dismiss Pakistan's Waqar Younis in either innings, he missed out on the achievement of dismissing all eleven batsmen in a Test match. It has been said that once he had got 9 wickets his friend and teammate Javagal Srinath started bowling wide off stumps, and was called twice, so that Kumble could take the 10th.^[41] The performance was rated by Wisden as the second best "Bowling performance of all time".^[42] The achievement was commemorated by naming a traffic circle in Bangalore after him.^[43]

On 6 October 2004, Kumble became only the third spinner in the history of Test cricket after Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan and the second Indian bowler after Kapil Dev to capture 400 Test wickets.^[44] Reaching the mark took him 30 fewer Test matches than it took Kapil Dev, and 7 fewer than Warne. In the India-West Indies series of 2006, Kumble took 6–78 in the second innings of the final Test in Sabina Park, Jamaica, and bowled India to a historic series victory; it had been 35 years since a similar series victory. During the first innings of the match, Kumble scored 45 and became the second player in the history of the game after Shane Warne to score 2000 runs and take over 500 Test wickets. Kumble also holds the world record for trapping most batsmen leg before wicket.^[45] On 10 December 2004, Kumble became India's highest wicket taker when he trapped Mohammad Rafique of Bangladesh to surpass Kapil Dev's haul of 434 wickets.

Kumble also played for ACC Asian XI against ICC World XI in World cricket tsunami appeal ODI match on 10 January 2005 held at Melbourne cricket ground which was organized for the charity purpose for 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami victims. In the match he picked up 2/73 and scored 11 runs of 7 balls.^[46]

On 11 March 2006, he took his 500th Test wicket.^[47] On 11 June 2006, Kumble passed Courtney Walsh on 520 Test wickets to take 4th place. After returning to India from the 2007 Cricket World Cup, he announced his retirement from ODI Cricket on 30 March 2007.^[48]

On 10 August 2007, Kumble scored his maiden century, with an innings of 110 not out against England to help them finish with 664. He took 118 Test matches to reach his maiden Test hundred, which is a record for taking the most number of matches to score a century, beating Chaminda Vaas who had held this record previously with 96 Tests. It was also the only hundred by an Indian in the 3 Test series.^[49] He is the only Test cricketer to have taken all ten wickets in an innings and score a Test hundred in his career. A day after scoring his ton, Kumble dismissed Vaughan for his 900th International wicket and 563rd Test wicket, drawing him level with Glenn McGrath. Later he trapped Monty Panesar for an LBW to finish the innings and overtake McGrath in the list of all time wicket takers,^[50] only Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne have more wickets.

Kumble bowling in a match against South Africa in 2008.

On 17 January 2008, in the third Test against Australia at WACA, Perth, Anil Kumble became the first Indian bowler and the third in the world to reach the milestone of 600 Test wickets.^[6] Kumble achieved the record just after the tea break when he had Andrew Symonds caught by Rahul Dravid at first slip.^[6] Kumble's 600 wickets came in 124 matches at an average of 28.68. Kumble has captured most number of wickets against Australia by an Indian bowler.^[6] Kumble is the third bowler after Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne to take 600 Test wickets.^[6]

Retirement[link]

Kumble injured the little finger of his left hand while attempting a catch off Matthew Hayden in Australia's first innings which rendered him unfit for the 4th and final test of the series against Australia.^[51] Kumble was finding it difficult to find his striking form and went wicketless in four consecutive innings before the first innings of Australia in the third test of the series against Australia in which he managed three lower order wickets. He declared the 2nd innings of India with only 6 overs of play left in the drawn match. His final figures were 4–0–14–0.

Anil Kumble announced his retirement from International test cricket, First class cricket, and list A cricket appearances on 2 November 2008 in the 3rd Test match against Australia at Feroz Shah Kotla cricket stadium at New Delhi, India. He took the last wicket of his career of Mitchell Johnson.^[52] The final ball of his test career was a low full toss on which Matthew Hayden scored a four.^[53] After his retirement, Dhoni was made the captain of the team.^[54]

IPL career[link]

Kumble agreed to honour his contract with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise of the Indian Premier League after retirement. He was given a three year contract worth US$ 500,000 per year in the first round of bidding in 2008.^[55]

On 18 April 2009 he took a five-wicket haul conceding just 5 runs against the defending champions Rajasthan Royals, which helped RCB get a 75-run victory in the second match of the 2009 edition, played in South Africa.^[56][57] After the departure of Kevin Pietersen for England's cricket commitments, Kumble was named as the captain of the Royal Challengers. On 1 May 2009,^[58][59] Challengers were able to recover from the four losses in their first six games and they eventually qualified for the semifinals as the third best team in the competition. On 23 May 2009 his team defeated the Chennai Super Kings by six wickets and got a spot in the final against the Deccan Chargers, who along with Bangalore were the two least successful teams in last year's edition.^[60] Though RCB could not win the tournament, Kumble ended as the most successful spin bowler and the 2nd highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 21 wickets at an economy rate of 5.86 runs per over behind Rudra Pratap Singh.^[61]

His team qualified along with with Deccan Chargers and Delhi Daredevils (who topped the preliminary League Table) for 2009 Twenty20 Champions League. They faced defeats to Cape Cobras and Victorian Bushrangers which ruled them out of the competition in the group stages itself.

In 2010 Indian Premier League, Kumble lead the team to the semi-finals. After being forced to play their semi-finals at the DY Patil Stadium following the security concerns in Bangalore,^[62] the Royal Challengers lost their semi-final to the Mumbai Indians, who topped the group phase.^[63] They finished 4th in the league table.

On 24 April 2010, Kumble took 4 wickets for 16 runs and his team qualified into the Champions' League as third-place finishers. He finished with 17 wickets for the tournament.

Kumble announced his retirement from Indian Premier League on January 4, 2012 and stated it in an IPL release:^[64]

After his retirement from IPL as a player, RCB appointed him as the chief mentor for the team. Kumble stated that:^[64]

Style[link]

Test career batting performance of Anil Kumble.

Kumble is a right-arm leg spinner with an unorthodox style, most famous for his flipper.^[65] He started his career as a fast bowler,^[66] which gave him a useful faster delivery. His unique bowling style can be attributed to matting pitches in Bangalore which assist top-spin and over-spin.^[67]

Sambit Bal, the editor of Cricinfo, writes:^[6]

Kumble relies more on accuracy, variations and bounce rather than spinning the ball.^[16] Columnist and former cricketer Peter Roebuck noted:^[68]

He is one of the 4 bowlers, alongside Richard Hadlee, Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, and the only Indian bowler ever, to have taken 5 wickets in a Test innings more than 30 times.^[69] He also holds the world record for the largest number of caught-and-bowled dismissals in tests, 35 – which forms 5.65% of his total wickets.^[70] He is also one of 4 Indian bowlers to have conceded over 250 runs in a Test match, although he took 12 wickets in that match.^[71] He is known for bowling tirelessly, having bowled 72 overs in a Test innings once.^[72] He is also remembered for his tenacity in bowling even when injured, especially after an incident in a match against West Indies where, despite having his broken jaw being heavily taped, he came back and took the wicket of Brian Lara.^[73]

Involvement in Cricket associations[link]

Kumble has been appointed to the athlete's commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), with his term starting on 1 January 2009.^[74]

On 21 November 2010, Kumble was elected as The President of the Karnataka State Cricket Association, with statemates and former India teammate Venkatesh Prasad elected as Vice-President whereas his former teammate, Javagal Srinath got elected as Secretary.^[75]

On 13 November 2011, Kumble resigned from the post chairman of the National Cricket Academy.^[76]

Awards and honours[link]

• Arjuna award, a sports award from the Government of India, in 1995^[77]
• One of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year, in 1996.^[78]
• Among the 16 cricketers shortlisted for the Wisden Indian Cricketer of the 20th Century, in 2002^[79] (Kapil Dev won)
• Padma Shri, a civilian award from the Government of India, in 2005.^[80]
• A prominent intersection in M. G. Road, Bangalore has been named after Anil Kumble.^[81]
• ‘Best breakthrough performance IPL 2009’ for his five-for-five against Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2009.^[82]

Man of the Series awards[link]

Test cricket[link]

ODI cricket[link]

Man of the Match awards[link]

Test cricket[link]

ODI cricket[link]

Test wicket milestones[link]

Wicket	Batsman	Country	Dismissal	Venue	Year
1st	Allan Lamb	England	Caught Sanjay Manjrekar	Manchester	1990
50th	David Houghton	Zimbabwe	Caught Praveen Amre	Delhi	1993
100th	Martin Crowe	New Zealand	Caught Sachin Tendulkar	Banglore	1995
150th	Sherwin Campbell	West Indies	Bowled	Kingston, Jamaica	1997
200th	Pommie Mbangwa	Zimbabwe	Stumped, Nayan Mongia	Harare	1998
250th	Dion Nash	New Zealand	Bowled	Kanpur	1999
300th	Matthew Hoggard	England	Leg Before Wicket	Banglore	2001
350th	Jacob Oram	New Zealand	Caught Rahul Dravid	Ahmedabad	2003
400th	Simon Katich	Australia	Bowled	Banglore	2004
450th	Mohammad Sami	Pakistan	Leg Before Wicket	Kolkata	2005
500th	Stephen Harmison	England	Stumped Mahendra Singh Dhoni	Mohali	2006
550th	Khaled Mashud	Bangladesh	Caught Mahendra Singh Dhoni	Dhaka	2007
600th	Andrew Symonds	Australia	Caught Rahul Dravid	Perth	2008
619th	Mitchell Johnson	Australia	Caught and bowled	Delhi	2008
Source: Cricinfo

Captaincy Record[link]

Endorsements[link]

• Manipal Education^[90]
• ING Vysya^[91]
• Alliance Group^[92]

See also[link]

	Cricket portal
	India portal

• Indian national cricket captains
• List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Anil Kumble
• List of One-day International records

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Anil Kumble

• Player profile: Anil Kumble from ESPNcricinfo

Anil Kumble in Cricket World Cup
v t e India squad – 1996 Cricket World Cup Semi-Finalists 1 Azharuddin (c) 2 Tendulkar 3 Jadeja 4 Sidhu 5 Kambli 6 Manjrekar 7 Mongia (wk) 8 Srinath 9 Prasad 10 Kumble 11 Prabhakar 12 Raju 13 Ankola 14 Kapoor Coach: Wadekar (Coach cum Manager)
v t e India squad – 1999 Cricket World Cup 1 Azharuddin (c) 2 Ganguly 3 Jadeja 4 Ramesh 5 Dravid 6 Robin Singh 7 Agarkar 8 Kumble 9 Mongia (wk) 10 Tendulkar 11 Prasad 12 Chopra 13 Mohanty 14 Srinath 15 Khurasiya Coach: Gaekwad
v t e India squad – 2003 Cricket World Cup Runners-Up 3 Harbhajan Singh 5 Dravid 7 Srinath 9 Agarkar 10 Tendulkar 11 Kaif 12 Yuvraj 18 Kumble 20 Patel 24 Ganguly (c) 28 Mongia 34 Zaheer 44 Sehwag 64 Nehra 66 Bangar Coach: Wright
v t e India squad – 2007 Cricket World Cup 3 Harbhajan 7 Dhoni 10 Tendulkar 12 Yuvraj 13 Munaf 19 Dravid (c) 21 Ganguly 27 Uthappa 34 Zaheer 36 Sreesanth 37 Kumble 44 Sehwag 56 Pathan 68 Agarkar 99 Karthik Coach: Chappell

Waqar Younis

وقار یونس

Personal information
Full name	Waqar Younis Maitla
Born	(1971-11-16) 16 November 1971 (age 40) Vehari, Punjab, Pakistan
Nickname	Burewala Express, Wiki, The Two W's (with Wasim Akram),[1][2] Sultan of Swing, The Toe crusher[3]
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Batting style	Right hand bat
Bowling style	Right arm fast
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	Pakistan
Test debut (cap 111)	15 November 1989 v India
Last Test	2 January 2003 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 71)	14 October 1989 v West Indies
Last ODI	4 March 2003 v Zimbabwe
ODI shirt no.	99
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2003–2004	Allied Bank Limited
2003	Warwickshire
2001–2003	National Bank of Pakistan
2000–2001	Lahore Blues
1999–2000	REDCO Pakistan Limited
1998–1999	Rawalpindi
1998–1999	Karachi
1997–1998	Glamorgan
1990–1993	Surrey
1988–1989, 1996–1997	United Bank Limited
1987–1988, 1997–1998	Multan
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	87	262	228	411
Runs scored	1010	969	2972	1553
Batting average	10.20	10.30	13.38	10.42
100s/50s	0/0	0/0	0/6	0/0
Top score	45	37	64	45
Balls bowled	16224	12698	39181	19841
Wickets	373	416	956	675
Bowling average	23.56	23.84	22.33	22.36
5 wickets in innings	22	13	63	17
10 wickets in match	5	n/a	14	n/a
Best bowling	7/76	7/36	8/17	7/36
Catches/stumpings	18/–	35/–	58/–	56/–
Source: ESPNCricinfo, 21 April 2012

Waqar Younis Maitla (Punjabi: وقار یونس, born 16 November 1971) is a former Pakistani right arm fast bowler in cricket and widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time.^[4] As of 2012, he holds the record for the youngest Pakistani Test captain and the third youngest Test captain in history (22 years 15 days).^[5] He played 87 Tests and 262 One Day Internationals (ODIs) matches for Pakistan during his international cricket career from1989 to 2003.^[6]

Younis' trademark was his ability to reverse swing a cricket ball at high speed.^[7] He took 373 Test wickets and 416 One Day International wickets during his career. Together with bowling partner Wasim Akram, he formed one of the subcontinent's most feared bowling attacks.^[8] He is considered to be the best exponent of the swing bowling delivery. Younis has the best strike rate for any bowler with over 350 Test wickets.^[9] He worked as a bowling coach with the national side from 2006 to 2007.^[10] Waqar was appointed as the coach of the Pakistan cricket team on 3 March 2010. ^[11][12] He resigned as Pakistan's Cricket Coach on 19 August 2011 citing personal reasons. ^[13][14]

Early and personal life[link]

Younis was born in Vehari, Punjab in Pakistan. He was educated in Sadiq Public School in Bahawalpur in Pakistan, the Pakistani College (Pakistan Islamia Higher Secondary School) in Sharjah and the Government College in Vehari. He was raised in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, where his father was a contract worker. He returned to Pakistan during his adolescent years and there, he started playing cricket.

He is married to Dr. Faryal Waqar Younis, a Pakistani Australian^[15] with a son Azaan Waqar and a daughter Maira Waqar and now lives in Castle Hill in Australia.^[16] Younis has also worked as a television sports commentator for the Nine Network in Australia and for Ten Sports in the United Arab Emirates.

Playing Career[link]

Waqar began his cricket career in in 1987/88 Pakistan, playing for several First-class cricket clubs. He never played T20I matches for Pakistan.^[6] However he suffered an injury when he had cut and removed his little finger on his left hand,^[17] after he had jumped into a canal. He recovered from this accident and went on to continue his sporting career. He was eventually discovered by former Pakistan captain, Imran Khan and was selected to be part of the national side.^[2]

Domestic[link]

The turning point of his career happened in England, during the late 1980s and early 1990s, when he played for Surrey. By taking 113 wickets in 582 overs for Surrey in 1991, at a mere 14.65 apiece, and by carrying on his shoulders an otherwise moderate county attack, he announced himself as one of the finest contemporary bowlers.^[18] There he displayed excellent cricketing performances and attracted attention from the sporting public. He won the English County Championship with Glamorgan in 1997. He 7 wickets for 25 against Lancashire at Liverpool on June 21 1997, which included a hat-trick achieved after narrowly missing a hat-trick earlier in the innings.^[19]

International[link]

Waqar made his International cricket debut for Pakistan against India on 15 November 1989, in the same match that Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar also made his debut. Waqar took 4 wickets in the drawn match including the wickets of Tendulkar and Kapil Dev.^[20] He made an immediate impression with his speed and became known in the cricket media as "Wiki"^[21] or the "Burewala Express".^[21] Waqar along with Wasim Akram opened the bowling attack regularly for Pakistan, becoming a feared and potent attack.^[22] At his peak, he developed into a very quick fast bowler and also became famous for achieving a hat-trick in a One Day International match against New Zealand in 1994.^[22] During the early periods of 2000, he stayed out of the Pakistan team for a brief period allegedly due to suspension and conflicts with bowling partner and captain Akram.^[23][24]

His return to cricket came with him being appointed the captain of Pakistan.^[25] However, he had to deal with allegations of ball-tampering and a number of controversies. The 2003 World Cup was the last straw as it was a tournament to forget for Waqar. In their opening match against Australia, Waqar was removed from the attack after bowling a beamer at Andrew Symonds.^[26] The Pakistanis then crashed out of the group stage after winning only two matches, both against associate member teams. After the tournament he conceded the captaincy and was dropped from international selection.^[27] After a nearly 15-year career, Waqar announced his retirement from cricket altogether in April 2004. ^[8]

Coaching[link]

In March 2006, he was appointed as the bowling coach for Pakistan.^[28] He resigned from this position on 6 January 2007 in protest against the Pakistan Cricket Board decision to retain him only for the Test series against South Africa and not for the subsequent series of five One Day International matches.^[29][30] He was re-appointed as Pakistan's bowling and fielding coach for their tour of Australia in December 2009.^[31] In February 2010, Younis was appointed the head coach of Pakistan after Intikhab Alam was sacked as coach, due to the low-level of performances of the national side during the tour of Australia earlier that year.^[32]

Waqar's first job as coach was to lead an inexperienced Pakistan side missing Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik to the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 as a consolation though Waqar had two top-notch bowlers in Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif at his disposal.^[33][34] He guided the defending champions to the semi-final of the tournament before they were knocked out by Australia courtesy of a superb 60* by Mike Hussey who whacked three sixes in the final over to seal the victory.^[35]

The World Twenty20 was followed with the 2010 Asia Cup in which Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka by a narrow-margin as Pakistan's top order collapsed and it was Shahid Afridi who scored 109 to nearly guide Pakistan to victory.^[36] In the following match Pakistan lost narrowly against India courtesy of a six by Harbhajan Singh from the third ball of the final over.^[37] The following match was a dead rubber between Pakistan and Bangladesh and another Afridi century meant Pakistan scored 385 runs and they comfortably won the match by 139 runs ^[38]

After this a tour of England followed with two Twenty20's against Australia and two Test matches. Pakistan won both Twenty20's comfortably and the first test saw Pakistan defeated by 154 runs. Pakistan rallied in the second test and for the first time in 15 years Pakistan defeated Australia in a Test match. Ironically the previous victory in 1995 was also courtesy of a superb bowling spell by Waqar Younis.^[39]

This tour was followed by a controversial tour against England as Pakistan headed in to the final Test match needing to win it to level the series 2-2 the News of the World broke a story that Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and captain Salman Butt were involved in Spot-fixing.^[40] This saw the three players temporarily suspended^[41] and Pakistan lost by an innings and 225 runs their biggest defeat in history.^[42] Low team-morale meant the next two T20 matches were won comfortably by England. Following an ODI series which Pakistan lost 3-2.^[43]

This was followed by a tour of Abu Dhabi playing against South Africa. Pakistan lost the first Twenty20 match by six-wickets following a batting-collapse which meant that no partnerships were formed. Pakistan also lost the ODI series of five matches by 3-2.^[44] Pakistan won the second one day due to Abdul Razzaq's superb performance scoring 109* off 72 ball.^[45] The test series of two matches with South Africa was drawn. He also stated that now it was the time for Pakistan to rally and prepare for the World Cup.^[46]

Style[link]

Waqar is one of several Pakistani fast bowlers, beginning with Sarfraz Nawaz, who have been successful at bowling reverse swing.^[7][47] In partnership with Akram, Younis opened the Pakistan bowling attack in the 1990s. Cricket critics and scholars attribute Younis and Akram to be one of the most effective fast bowling partnerships in cricket, due to their ability to swing the ball at high speed. The ability to reverse swing and his speed led to him becoming one of the most talented bowlers in modern cricket.^[22][2]

Waqar explained his ability to reverse swing by the manipulation of an old ball; with one side shiny, one side rough, the ball would move in the opposite direction to conventional swing.^[7] This led to Waqar having the ability to bowl inswingers and outswingers in the cricket pitch and in effect both Waqar and Akram became successful in taking wickets by this variation of swing bowling.^[47][48][49] His fastest delivery in cricket was 153 km/h or 95.1 mph, a delivery he bowled against South Africa in 1993.^[50][51] He was also effective in the use of bouncers or short pitch deliveries; Waqar's bowling against South Africa in Sheikhupura in Pakistan, is remembered for his effective use of the short pitched delivery.

Following Pakistan's victory during the Test match series versus England in 1992, the English media were suspicious of the reverse swing delivery. It was relatively unknown to the cricketing world during that period and this led to accusations of foul play by critics, however cricket officials found no evidence of foul play and the skill of the reverse swing delivery has been accepted in cricket.^{[52][53][54][55]}

Sri Lanka fast bowler, Lasith Malinga, who became the first bowler in World Cup history to take two hat-tricks, has said that he learnt to bowl his deadly yorkers by watching Pakistan's legendary pair of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.^[56][57][58] No doubt over the years several bowlers have learned and mastered the skill of reverse swing but there are still some techniques which haven't have been explored e.g. banana swing. Title of Banana swing bowler was given to Waqar Younis because of his unique technique of swinging the ball in the air at very high speed before hitting the ground. In most of his hat tricks he has delivered banana swing balls which were unplayable.^[54]

Despite his qualities as a fast bowler, he was expensive at times and sometimes lacked the consistency of bowlers such as West Indian fast bowler Curtly Ambrose and Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath. This may be partly due to the mentality of his former captain, Imran Khan, who prioritised aggression and speed.^[2]

Fan following[link]

Considered as one of the finest bowlers in cricket, Waqar Younis has been a legend to many, both nationally and internationally, throughout his cricket career.

The world's fastest sprinter and runner Usain Bolt, who is from Jamaica (in the West Indies), once famously replied while being asked about who were his heroes when he was a child: "When I was really small I loved the Pakistan cricket team. Waqar Younis was one of the greatest bowlers ever, and I was a bowler so I really enjoyed watching him. I was a big Pakistan fan until I got older, when I noticed that I should actually support my home team." When asked what if there was a match between Pakistan and Windies, Bolt remarked "I would still have supported Pakistan, that’s what I’m saying – when I was little, it was all about Pakistan."^[59]

Award and records[link]

Waqar was awarded Wisden Cricketers of the Year^[60][18] in 1992 for his sporting achievements. He is also the only bowler to have taken 5 wickets in an innings in 3 consecutive One Day International matches. In terms of deliveries bowled, he has taken the fastest 50, 300, 350 and 400 wickets in One Day International matches and the fastest 150, 200, 250, 300 and 350 wickets in Test matches.

Although primarily a fast bowler, Waqar scored 1010 Test match runs during his career. As of September 2005, he was the only non-batsman to achieve a thousand runs without scoring a fifty.^[61][62] Waqar holds the record for the best strike rate for any bowler with over 350 Test wickets.^[9]

Five wickets in an innings[link]

Waqar Younis has taken five or more wickets in an innings on 22 occasions in Test cricket, although never against Australia. ^[63] In One Day International matches, he has taken the most number of five-wicket hauls (on 13 occasions).^[64]

Cricket controversies[link]

In July 2000 Waqar became the first cricketer to be banned for ball tampering and was fined 50% of his match fee.^[65]

References[link]