The chosen one

If you'd brought up the topic of captaincy prospects with Waqar Younis at the beginning of 2001, he would have stared at you incredulously. He would be grateful for a regular place in the side, he might have said philosophically. 2000 was that kind of a year for Waqar. It started with him being named in the Justice Qayyum report on match-fixing, with his long-time bowling partner and sometime adversary, Wasim Akram. It ended in ignominy in Sri Lanka when he became the first cricketer to be banned for tampering with the ball - a charge he dismisses with contempt.

"That incident tainted my image and left a black scar on my career," Waqar says. "The (field) umpires hadn't reported anything to the match-referee, nor was the allegedly tampered ball replaced.

"I have never, and will never, use unsporting tactics to gain an advantage. Cricket is a gentleman's game and I have always respected its reputation and traditions. But that decision has definitely left a question mark on my achievements," he says.

Waqar's 12-year international career has been full of upheavals. In 1993, he landed behind bars in Grenada, West Indies along with Akram, Mushtaq Ahmed and Aqib Javed for "constructive possession of marijuana". A year later, he led a players' rebellion against Akram which led to Akram's removal from the captaincy. Then, after the World Cup in England in 1999, Waqar accused Akram of wrecking his career in a personal vendetta.

Waqar is ready to admit that he has been immature in the past. "Those were the early days. I have learned a lot with the passage of time. And I am more tolerant now. I have started to take things in my stride. Some of the things I said then were in the heat of the moment. I regret them now."

After years of acrimony, he has settled into a comfortable relationship with Akram "My relationship with Wasim is very good. He is the greatest left-armer the world has seen. We have a healthy competition when we are bowling. But there is mutual respect." More than anything, Younis is aware that the years are ticking by, and that he isn't getting faster.

Since a chronic stress-fracture in the back cost him a place in the 1992 World Cup squad, Waqar's bowling has gotten progressively slower, but he still boasts an amazing Test strike-rate of 42.4 and he's desperate to increase his tally of 344 wickets from 76 Tests by at least a hundred. After the ball-tampering controversy, he sat out two home Tests against England. He was picked for the third, which Pakistan lost in dramatic circumstances - Graham Thorpe hitting the winning run in near darkness in Karachi. But Waqar had done enough - 4 for 88 including the wickets of Marcus Trescothick, Thorpe and Graeme Hick - to book his ticket to New Zealand.

But the New Zealand tour did nothing to assure him a regular place in the side. With six wickets in three Tests at an average of 50.83, only his county experience would have got him a berth to England. But it would have been a marginal case.

Inzamam-ul-Haq was the Pakistan Cricket Board's first choice to captain in place of Moin Khan, who was thought to be inflexible, stubborn and detrimental to the team. In fact, the decision had been taken before the third Test at Hamilton and Inzamam was informed that he would be leading the side to Sharjah and England. Inzamam though, told the board after returning to Pakistan that he wasn't looking for the added responsibility and would rather focus on his batting. It was Inzamam's recommendation - and a lack of options - that led to Waqar's appointment as the 11th Pakistani captain since Imran Khan retired in 1992. The assignment also guaranteed him a place in the team. "Leading Pakistan is a great honour," he says. "I feel elated and proud to be in the club of 23 captains, including some of my childhood heroes."

In Waqar's first assignment as captain, Pakistan finished as losing finalists to Sri Lanka in the Sharjah tri-series in April 2001 after having won all their league games.

Later, in England, Pakistan earned a respectable 1-1 draw in the two-Test series before reaching the finals of the tri-nation one-day series, also involving Australia. But Waqar scaled a personal high with career-best figures of 7 for 37 against England, which he followed up with 6 for 59 against Australia. In the Asian Test Championship against greenhorns Bangladesh, he scooped up six wickets.

For Waqar, the high point of his captaincy so far has been beating Sri Lanka in the Sharjah triangular in October. "It was something special. I had desperately wanted to win a tournament as captain and it was like a dream come true. It was the icing on the cake in a year that has been memorable for me," he said.

"It also marked the end of Pakistan's run of choking in finals," he said, referring to the defeats in the title matches of the World Cup in 1999, at Singapore (July 2000, under his captaincy), Sharjah (April 2001) and England (June 2001).

Waqar admits that it took him time to get used to the responsibility. But he has grown into the role and now finds decision-making easier.

"I am not the sort of captain who gets butterflies in the stomach the night before the match. I sleep comfortably, get up fresh and select the team according to the situation and requirement," he says.

He is also not the sort of captain who imposes his authority by gesticulating on the field. "I don't mind dropped catches or fielding lapses provided the effort is there. I don't believe in shouting. It only unsettles players further. In my pre-match briefing I ask players to give their best and not to relax until the final ball is bowled.

"I don't consider myself captain when I am bowling. When I have the ball in my hand, my target is to pick up wickets and to not allow the batsmen to score cheap runs.

"As captain, I also have an obligation to prepare boys who can take over from the seniors in due course. That is a vital area in my scheme of things and I am working on it religiously. We have very talented youngsters, but they need proper guidance and coaching," he believes.

These are early days still, and although Waqar has been promised tenure till the World Cup, nothing is more certain in Pakistan cricket than uncertainty. But many former Test players are impressed with the authority and calm he has displayed so far.

Hanif Mohammad would go as far as to draw parallels with Imran Khan. "Waqar resembles Imran a lot. He has the same aggression, passion and hunger for success. I haven't seen him biting his nails or scratching his head while leading. These are signs of a mentally strong character."

Javed Miandad, who was Waqar's captain on many occasions and coach to the Pakistan team till 2001, says that Waqar should have been given his chance to lead much earlier. "He is intelligent, cool, and is always thinking on his feet. I fail to understand why he wasn't made captain earlier when every Tom, Dick and Harry was getting a chance to lead the team," he says, referring to the period in the mid-90s when the Pakistan team had six former captains playing together.

"I would like to see Waqar being given a proper run. No captain has a magic wand with which he can change the team's fortunes. It takes time. The administration, media and public need to be patient," Miandad says.

Zaheer Abbas, Pakistan's leading batsman in the 70s and early 80s, and a big fan of English county cricket, feels that Waqar's stints at Glamorgan and Surrey have helped him mature as a cricketer. "It made him mentally stronger, responsible to the team cause and helped him develop a broader vision."

With the praise, there is a word of caution too. It comes from former captain and coach, Intikhab Alam. "I have no doubts about Waqar's abilty. But I'd like to see how he handles the team when up against sides like Australia and South Africa,"

Pakistan are scheduled to host Australia in September and tour South Africa in December. Judgement day beckons.