Wasim Akram on Waqar Younis: “We had our ups and downs, [but] we weren’t jealous of each other. We were competitive”
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Legendary Pakistan seamers Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis formed one of the most feared bowling partnerships in history as they tormented the opposition and proved to be a nightmare for batsmen.
However, was there bad blood between them during their playing days?
According to Wasim, he and Waqar had their “ups and downs”, but “we weren’t jealous of each other”.
“We had our ups and downs, [but] we weren’t jealous of each other. We were competitive,” Akram said in a video that Fox Cricket uploaded to YouTube. “The idea was if Waqar gets five wickets in the first innings, I wanted to get six wickets in the second innings. And in the end, the Pakistan team benefited. So it was a healthy competition I reckon.”
Providing his view, Waqar said: “I always say that my success has come because Wasim was bowling from the other end. It gave me a lot of energy, boosted my confidence and what we used to do is if I finished my over, I never used to go to fine leg or third man, I would go and stand at mid-off and vice-versa he used to do the same, and we used to tell each other what to do next ball and the ball after and the ball after [that].
“I really praise and thank God for having him on the other end because the performance came together and really made Pakistan do well.”
Wasim added: “When he had four wickets and I was at the other end, I tried to bowl a little outside off-stump and then Waqar, vice-versa he did the same thing, that [he] would get the five-for.
“It was a healthy competition, we had our differences on and off the field. You play for 15 years, it’s bound [to happen]. You have your differences with you missus.
“It was fun and we used to enjoy each other’s company off the field as well, we had some great fun, and like he just mentioned, he was at mid-off and he used to tell me in-swing, out-swing, yorker, if I want to bowl a yorker have mid-on and mid-off slightly straighter and fine leg little finer. All these [things], we used to remind each other to look at your field first what you are doing.”