Wasim and Waqar - Pakistan's cutting edge

Figures alone cannot describe the impact that Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis made on the game of cricket ... although they go a long way towards that aim. In 191 Tests and 618 one-day internationals, the pair claimed 1705 wickets to establish themselves at the very pinnacle of the sport's pantheon. And yet, to see the statistics is one thing, to witness the pair in full cry is quite another.

Wasim and Waqar complemented each other perfectly - Wasim with the whippiest left arm ever to have graced the game; Waqar with a full-tilt hurtle towards the crease and an immense full-bodied catapulting action. Together they brought about a sea-change in the mentality of the fast bowler; in the 1980s, it had all been about naked aggression, short-pitched bowling, and the clatter of leather on helmet. In the 1990s, by contrast, the stumps - not the body - became the thinking bowler's target.

Waqar, with the most fearsome yorker the game has ever known, and Wasim, with the ability to move the ball in every conceivable direction through the air, used their mastery of reverse-swing to turn the old ball into the deadliest - and unlikeliest - of weapons. Bowling in excess of 90mph, they retained the fear associated with fast bowling, but did away with thuggery, to establish themselves as two of the noblest champions of the game.