Waqar Younis "cheated" with ball to get reverse swing: Mohammad Asif
Former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif has made stunning allegations against legendary pacer Waqar Younis. Asif claimed that Waqar Younis used to "cheat" to extract reverse swing during his playing days. The controversial 38-year-old pacer did not offer any further explanation for his remarks.
In an interview with Pakistan channel ARY News on Sunday, Mohammad Asif also alleged that Waqar Younis didn't know how to bowl with the new ball, and only developed that skill during the fag end of his career.
"Waqar Younis used to cheat with the ball to do reverse swing. He did not know how to bowl with the new ball in most of his career. He learned a bit about bowling with the new ball in the twilight phase of his career," said Mohammad Asif.
During his prime, Waqar Younis was considered one of the best operators of the old ball in world cricket. His incisive reverse-swinging yorker, hurled from a slingy action, was one of the most dreaded balls to face in the 90s.
Currently the bowling coach of the Pakistan Men's Cricket Team, Waqar Younis picked up 373 wickets at an average of 23.56 from 87 Tests. His bowling was equally effective in ODI cricket - the white-ball used to favor reverse swing then - and collected 416 scalps from 262 games at 23.84.
Waqar Younis is coaching for the last 20 years but never produced quality bowlers: Mohammad Asif
Mohammad Asif also slammed Waqar Younis for his alleged failure to produce 'quality' reverse swing pacers.
"People know Waqar as a master of reverse swing but he never developed a single bowler who could bowl a perfect reverse swing. These people are in coaching for the last 20 years but they never produced quality bowlers. They lack consistency in making combinations. We have quantity, not quality bowlers," said Mohammad Asif.
Mohammad Asif featured in 23 Tests, 38 ODIs, and 11 T20Is for Pakistan. He was famous for his metronomic accuracy and picked up 165 wickets across all formats. However, his promising career was truncated after he was found guilty in a spot-fixing-scandal in 2010.