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April
7, 2000
The
famous pace duo of Pakistan cricket, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis are
still unable to get along with each other in the national team. The two
clashed once again in the final of the Sharjah Cup triangular series last
Friday over the matter of who will bowl from which end.
Not the first time this sort of thing had happened between them.
In
1998 during the Port Elizabeth Test against South Africa, former captain
Rashid Latif had encountered a similar problem with the two. In the
Sharjah final, this correspondent has confirmed that Wasim Akram insisted
on bowling from the end from which Waqar had been bowling particularly
well throughout the tournament.
Captain Moin Khan, apparently, found himself in a difficult position and
had to accede to Wasim's request.
But
this only rubbed Waqar the wrong way and he sulked away on the boundary
line. The interesting thing is that when Waqar was brought on to bowl from
his preferred end for his third spell he grabbed four wickets and sealed
the final for Pakistan.
His performance helped him win the man of the match and man of the series
awards. An astonishing turnaround for a fast bowler who was written off by
his captain (Wasim) and selectors throughout last year as a 'spent force'
despite remaining with the team on all important tours and in the World
Cup.
What
was most amazing about Waqar's performance was that for sometime now he
has been consistently branded a bowler too expensive for the One-day
Internationals. So much so that he got to play just one match in last
year's World Cup against the minnows, Bangladesh.]
No wonder his frustration got the better of him and last year after
returning from Australia, Waqar held a press conference and publicly
denounced his captain Wasim Akram for conspiring to destroy his career and
of being unfair to him at the cost of the team. Citing the Hobart Test as
an example.
Wasim's
response was that Waqar should be grateful he had been given a chance by
him in the team as his (Waqar's) performances as a bowler did not warrant
him a place in the Pakistan side. The interesting thing is that leave
alone Waqar's recent heroics in Sharjah or in the Test series against Sri
Lanka, even when Wasim was describing him as over the hill, the fact of
the matter was that both the great fast bowlers did not have much to
separate them performance wise in Tests or One day Internationals since
the 1996 World Cup!
Since that World Cup, Wasim Akram appeared in 25 Tests, 16 of them as
captain and ended up capturing 94 wickets in 847.2 overs at an average of
24.80. His best figures being 6 for 48 with two instances of five wickets
in an innings and one ten wickets in a match. In contrast Waqar during
this same period played 23 Tests and bowled 728.5 overs, capturing 92
wickets at an average of 25.56 with a best of 6-78 with two feats of five
wickets in an innings and one ten wickets in a match.
Even where One day Internationals are concerned, Wasim after the 96' World
Cup played 100 of them (including Sharjah Cup), 77 of them as captain and
ended up capturing 133 wickets at an average of 25.79 with a best effort
of 4-25. His runs per over came to 4.02 runs with six instances of four
wickets in an innings. Interestingly Waqar during this period appeared in
only 69 ODI's and captured 105 wickets in them at an average of 25.58 with
a best bowling return of 6-44.
His runs per over was about 4.82! Not bad for a bowler considered to be
too expensive for limited overs matches. Currently while Wasim has a total
of 383 Test wickets in 92 matches and 418 of them in 298 matches, Waqar's
figures read 292 Test wickets and 305 ODI victims. Wasim needs just 17
more wickets to become the first Pakistani bowlers to cross the 400 mark
in Tests. Whether he will achieve this target on the West Indies tour
remains to be seen.
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