Pakistan former captain Waqar Younis is optimistic that the forthcoming IPL will be a keenly-contested one. This is also be his first stint in the high-profile event.
“This is exciting in many ways and it is definitely a huge challenge for me,” says the 41-year-old Younis, who will be the donning role of bowling coach of the new Hyderabad-based franchisee Sunrisers.
“This is a format which demands quick planning and instinctive reactions. And we have players who are capable of rising to the occasion,” he said.
What could be your biggest challenge when handling bowlers like Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma?
“Obviously, I can’t tell them about the art of fast bowling as they are established bowlers. Steyn, in my opinion, is the most complete fast bowler in contemporary cricket.
“He is aggressive, bowls consistently fast, swings the ball and has that aggro image which is so important,” said Younis.
Too early
“We want to find out a winning formula with these bowlers. It is obviously too early to list the strong and weak points of my team as we have not even had our first training session yet,” said Younis.
“The preliminary team meetings were very good. I liked the intensity amongst the players and the support staff. The body language was very positive. It was wonderful to interact with V.V.S. Laxman,” said Younis.
Referring to the art of reverse swing which he and Akram had taken to new heights, Younis said “when they employed it, it was new and therefore effective. But now many batsmen have found out how to deal with it,” he added.
Younis says it is not easy to bowl reverse swing. Everything depends on the bowler’s action.
Purely technical
“Not all bowlers can do it. It is a technical thing and it suits a particular type of bowling action. That is the reason why only three or four in a bunch of 40 bowlers are successful,” he explained.
Waqar said he was lucky to bowl alongside his great teammate (Akram).
“There was nothing called chemistry in our case. It was just luck that we bowled together for such a long time,” he said.
