Sunil Bandacharya Joshi (Kannada: ಸುನಿಲ್‌ ಬಂಡಾಚಾರ್ಯ ಜೋಷಿ)  pronunciation (help·info) (born June 6, 1970, Gadag, Karnataka) is a former Indian cricketer. He is an all-rounder who bowls slow left arm spin and bats left-handed. He used to travel 40 miles to Hubli each morning for practice, and then return to his native town of Gadag in time for school. Such was his desire and passion for cricket.

Joshi played both Test and One Day International cricket for India between 1996 and 2001. His usual role in the team was to provide runs from the lower order and act as a secondary spin bowler to support the likes of Anil Kumble. Despite being a regular in the national team during this period, he was not selected for the 1999 Cricket World Cup.

His most famous bowling performance for India came in an ODI match against South Africa in the LG Cup in 1999. He returned figures of 10-6-6-5 helping India to victory in that match [2]. Three years later, the performance was rated in the Wisden 100 as the seventh best ODI bowling performance to that date. However, South Africa won the LG Cup after Joshi's ten overs in the final cost 55 runs, India conceded 235 for nine in 50 overs, and were bowled out for 209 with Joshi making 18.

At state level he played for Karnataka throughout his career. In the 1995-96 season of the Ranji Trophy he achieved the impressive double of scoring 500 runs and capturing 50 wickets. He also played briefly for the Bedfordshire County Cricket Club in England during the 2004 season.

Joshi represented Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2008 and 2009 season of the Indian Premier League and was under contract till 2010.

Joshi is currently coach for Hyderabad(India) Cricket Team. He coached his team to enter Super league Ranji Trophy Quarter-finals in his debut season as coach from Plate. Hyderabad team is in Second round of Vijay Hazzare One day game.

External links[link]

• Player profile: Sunil Joshi from ESPNcricinfo

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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]

External links[link]

• Player profile: Waqar Younis from ESPNcricinfo
• Player profile: Waqar Younis from CricketArchive
• Player Profile: Waqar Younis from Yahoo! Cricket