Former skipper Waqar Younis says his reverse swing is now considered an art form, but he and other Pakistani pace bowlers were accused of ball tampering when they introduced it in the early 1990s.
Younis and his pace bowling partner Wasim Akram were accused of ball tampering as they swung the old ball prodigiously, but Younis said it was a craft perfected through long stints at the nets.
”They’ve now branded it as reverse swing, but we were slammed for it,” Younis told reporters on Monday as he announced his retirement from competitive cricket.
”The whole world has learnt how to do it,” he said.
During his 15-year career, Younis claimed 373 wickets in 87 tests. He also dismissed 416 batsmen in 262 one-day internationals.
He said he wants to be remembered for mastering the reverse swing.
”Personally I always thought of reverse swing as a big achievement, but it’s a big regret that allegations of ball tampering were thrown at us,” said Younis.
”It was never an easy art to master. I learnt it while playing for my college, and then it began working for me when I made the test grade,” he said.
”We had the talent and awesome speed to make it work.” – Sapa-AP