Waqar Younis’ International career in numbers

Waqar Younis was one of the many fastest bowlers Pakistan have produced but unlike most, he went on to make a prominent name for himself in the history of the game, with the art of swinging the ball and reversing it as well. Waqar began his career at an early age and played for the nation for nearly 15 years and served as the captain as well.

A day after his 18th birthday, Waqar made his Test debut along with Sachin Tendulkar and ended his career as one of the greats of the format and also bagged numerous records in ODI cricket as well.

Here are the records and achievements that Waqar Younis accomplished in his career.

1.608 – Pakistan’s win/loss ratio in ODI cricket under Waqar is their 2nd best under any captain. (Min: 25 wins) Wasim Akram had a win/loss ratio of 1.609. Under Waqar’s captaincy, Pakistan won 37 and lost 23 out of 62 ODI games.

3 – Number of consecutive five-wicket hauls that he picked up in ODI cricket in 1990. He is the only bowler to take three consecutive 5-fers in ODIs. He also picked up three consecutive 4-fers in ODIs on three different occasions. Seven other bowlers have taken three consecutive ODI 4-fers but no one has done it on more than one occasion.

7/36 – Waqar is the only player in ODI cricket to take seven wickets in a game as captain. He recorded the figures of 10-0-36-7 against England at Leeds in 2001.

13 – Number of 5-wicket hauls he picked in ODI cricket. These are the most number of ODI 5-fers for any player. His 27 four-wicket hauls are also the most for any player in this format.

13/135 – His match figures of 13/135 in a Test match against Zimbabwe in 1993 are the 2nd best for any player as a captain. He recorded the figures of 10-0-36-7 against England at Leeds in 2001.

17 – Waqar led Pakistan in 17 Test matches with all of them producing a result. Pakistan won ten of them and lost seven. No other captain has a similar statistic in Tests. Brendon Taylor led Zimbabwe in 13 Tests off which his team lost ten and won three.

18y 164d – The age when he bagged a 5-wicket haul in an ODI against Sri Lanka in 1990. He is the youngest bowler in ODI cricket to claim a 5-fer. He recorded the figures of 6/26 against the Lankans and 5/20 against the Kiwis two days later.

30.5 – He has a bowling strike rate of 30.5 in ODI cricket which is the 2nd best for any bowler with a minimum of 300 wickets. Brett Lee had a SR of 29.4 with the ball in this format.

43.5 – His bowling strike rate of 43.5 is the 2nd best for any bowler in Test cricket with a minimum of 200 wickets. Dale Steyn has a career SR of 41.45 at the moment.

103 – Number of wickets Waqar had to his name in Internationals before turning 19. He is one of the two players with 100 International wickets before turning 19. Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan picked up 105 wickets as a teenager. Waqar’s 55 ODI wickets before his 19th birthday is also the 2nd most behind Rashid’s 63 while his 48 Test wickets are the 2nd most after Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir (51).

789 – Number of wickets he preyed in International cricket. These are the 2nd most number of wickets by a Pakistan player after Wasim Akram (916) across formats. Waqar’s Test and ODI wickets of 373 and 416 respectively are also the 2nd most by a Pakistan player after Wasim 414 and 502.

1010 – Runs he scored in Test cricket. The former Pakistan pacer is the only player to have scored 1000 Test runs without a score of 50+. His International tally of 1979 runs is also the highest among the players without a fifty-plus score.