Pakistani Crciket Players: Waqar Younis

Waqar Younis

Waqar Younis Biography:- In his third stint as part of the coaching staff for the Pakistan team, Waqar Younis, in his latest role as the Head Coach of Pakistan, wears the battle hardened look of an army general who is determined to take his troops through the thick of battle and onto the pinnacles of success.
A veteran of 87 Test matches, Waqar in his playing days picked up 373 scalps and took 22 five wicket hauls in Tests, whilst also forming a fiery partnership with another legend Wasim Akram. With a coach of his pedigree at the helm, it is no wonder that there has been tangible improvement in the form and fortunes of the Pakistan team after a dip against Sri Lanka.
As Pakistan enjoy a period of relative success in their overall standing in the game, Waqar Younis spoke to PakPassion.net about his latest association with the Pakistan team, his impressions of Rahat Ali, the state of Pakistan’s fast bowling resources, and also looked forward to the 2015 World Cup.
Whilst Waqar tasted unbridled success and fame during his days as a player, he was one of the lucky few who were able to transform their on-field achievements into an equally successful career as a commentator. The decision to take over as Pakistan Head Coach after Dav Whatmore’s departure, was obviously one that he did not take lightly as he explained “I thought a lot before I submitted my application for this position. I had a long chat with my family as it would not be easy for them. It’s doubly difficult especially when you have a young family. But we have made this decision and we are sticking with it. It can be tough for the family but we are doing what we can to make this work.”
The recently concluded Test series played in the UAE where Pakistan whitewashed Australia and drew with New Zealand have seen Pakistan move to a respectable 4th position. However, not so long ago, Pakistan were at the receiving end of a 2-0 drubbing at the hands of Sri Lanka. That series also happened to be Waqar Younis and his coaching team’s debut series and would have served as an eye opener for the task ahead. Waqar on his part feels that whilst the result of the Sri Lanka series was a shock, up and downs are part of life and can serve as good learning experiences stating that ”It’s early days so far but I guess looking back a bit, I would say that no one likes losing games and the loss to Sri Lanka where we could have easily won was not the most pleasant thing I have experienced. But then, I also take that in a positive manner. It was a jolt for me and told me that this isn’t an easy gig and I would need to dig deep here. Yes, we lost two Test matches but I feel we learnt a lot from there.”
Hopes of many a Pakistan fan were raised when Waqar accepted the role as it brought the possibility of Pakistan bowlers being developed as world beaters under the expert tutelage of one of the supreme proponents of the art of reverse swing in the shape as their coach. If proof was ever needed of this theory in practice, one would look no further than Rahat Ali’s progress during the recent series in the UAE. Whether Rahat Ali will be able to emulate Waqar in the long run is yet to be seen but the young bowler’s progress hasn’t gone unnoticed by his coach.