COLOMBO – As a player, Waqar Younis had nothing but bad memories of the World Cup. Now as a coach, he has challenge of turning around Pakistan’s talented yet unpredictable team. “Well, it’s true that the World Cup hasn’t been too kind to me, but that is motivation and challenge enough to fight on and take another chance as coach of a talented team which can win the tournament,” Waqar told AFP.
Waqar, now 39, was regarded as one of the most potent fast bowlers in his prime, producing wicket-taking deliveries on any surface, the most notable being his toe-crushing yorker. Together with compatriot Wasim Akram, one of the best left-arm pacemen ever to have played cricket, Waqar formed a destructive new-ball pairing, fondly remembered as “two Ws”, wrecking the best of batting line-ups on their day. Waqar was considered Pakistan’s main weapon in the 1992 World Cup in Australia, but a week before the event started he had to return home in tears without playing a match due to injury.
“It was a nightmare to return with an injury,” remembers Waqar. “Yes, it does hurt sometimes that I wasn’t part of it but I still remember going to Lahore airport to receive the winning team when they returned. “It will always stay with me, the moment they arrived and I always cherish that great triumph of Pakistan. “I had watched the World Cup at home in Lahore. Every single game was fun to watch and as we got into the later stages of the tournament it got very thrilling and that was the time when I missed it the most.”
But soon after Pakistan’s win in the World Cup, Waqar recovered from injury and along with Wasim wreaked havoc in England, leading Pakistan to a 2-1 win in a Test series marred by allegations of ball-tampering. By 1996, Waqar had matured into a world class bowler, but his World Cup jinx continued.
