The Sultans of Swing (Hunting in Pairs - Part 1)


Some say bowlers hunt in pairs. While it is important that bowlers from both ends should keep up the pressure to force wickets, does having an equally attacking bowler help? Or, rather, does it help each other? A look purely from career stats perspective.

 First look is ofcourse to the best proponents of swing bowling, a bowling combination which proved deadly to teams all over the world (wait, let me check the facts to fully endorse the last phrase). Fondly(?) called the Sultans of Swing, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were most dreaded pair for their ability to extract reverse swing and hurl out toe-crusher yorkers. 

During their career, put together, they have taken more than 38% of the wickets that Pakistan bowlers had got, and when playing together, they had a healthy share of 56%. This has remained fairly the same, irrespective of the result, Win or Loss.

Akram started his career in 1985, with the series in New Zealand. In the second test, Akram had his first (and second) 5 wickets haul, and the 10 wickets haul. Pakistan lost both the tests. By the time Waqar made his debut in the home series against West Indies, Akram was experienced by 25 tests, with 76 wickets in his name, but not a very great record of Avg 28 and Strike Rate 65.

Yes, Akram had a relatively slow start, then. But he was up for his prime when Waqar joined him. A dissection of his career into 4 quarters (26 tests each in a career of 104 tests) give an interesting story. 

During the first quarter, Akram averaged close to 28, with a strike rate of 65. During the second and third quarters, his average were around 21, with strike rate around 47. This was probably the golden age of reverse swing for the two Ws. The final leg, as expected, tapered off a bit, with average touching 29 and strike rate back to the 60s.

Waqar had different career. Waqar started with a bang. His pace and swing were found tough to handle. As with Akram, when we break Waqar's 87 tests into 4 parts, the story is different from Akram. Waqar averaged at 19.57 (SR 38.87) in the first quarter. These numbers kept increasing with each leg, Averages of 23.75, 24.09 and 28.34, and Strike Rates of 41.62, 45.43 and 50.65.

By the end of their careers, both had similar averages, around 23.5, with Waqar taking almost 11 balls less for a wicket.

How well did they hunt together? Or how different was it for one to miss the other?

As mentioned earlier, before Waqar came in, Akram didn't have the records to back his ability. And when Akram retired in 2002, Waqar was already getting less effective. He just took 34 wickets in 12 tests, 
So, the ideal place to look at is how their performance was, with both playing together and one of them missing out impacting the other.

Hunting as a pair
When both Akram and Waqar were together, they accounted for 56% of the wickets that Pakistan team could fell. They played 61 tests together, taking a total of 559 wickets, at an average of 22.12 and a strike rate of 45.65. Akram gave away 1.5 runs less per wickets compared to Waqar, but Waqar required seven balls less to take a wicket. 

Their role in Pakistan victories is enormous, 58% of the wickets they hunted together came in Pakistan wins, where they averaged around 18, striking at less than 38 balls per wicket.

The first quarter (15 tests out of the 61) was significant because Akram was very quickly improving his striking powers and Waqar just burst in. In the first 15 tests together, they combined to an average of 20.65 per wicket, taking them every 44 balls. It was the second quarter, tests 15-30, where they were in full swing. In those 15 tests, they took a staggering 182 wickets, at less than 20, striking every 39 balls. Akram maintained his form during the third quarter, but Waqar was getting more expensive and striking less. And by the fourth, Akram was getting older and the combined average and strike rate was the worst, 26.71 and 54.81 respectively.

Akram was more effective in Australia where he averaged almost half of Waqar's. 
In India, Waqar was almost ineffective, just two wickets at 76.5, while Akram had a decent outing in these matches. 
England treated Waqar better, and the pictures of those reverse swinging yorkers would still remain in our memories for long. Together, Akram and Waqar prised out 81 wickets in the 9 test matches they played in England. 
But in real swinging conditions, like in New Zealand, Akram was a real champ, with 58 wickets in 9 matches at 18.8 (career record)

Friends separated
How was it when they were separated?
Akram, probably, suffered the most without his friend. In the 18 tests he played without Waqar, he took 56 wickets, at average close to 30 and strike rate touching 67. Waqar roughly maintained his average, but took three more balls to strike for his 62 wickets in 14 tests. For the 118 wickets in 32 tests combined, they cost an additional 3.5 runs and 10 additional balls, compared to what they could achieve while together.

Stats in numbers
Career Summary (Tests) - Wasim Akram - 104, Waqar Younis - 87
Career Summary (Wickets) - Wasim Akram - 414, Waqar Younis - 373
Career Summary (Avg.) - Wasim Akram - 23.62, Waqar Younis - 23.56
Career Summary (SR) - Wasim Akram - 54.65, Waqar Younis - 43.5
Career Summary (5 W/I) - Wasim Akram - 25, Waqar Younis - 22
Career Summary (10 W/M) - Wasim Akram - 5, Waqar Younis - 5
Career Summary (% Share of Wkts) - Wasim Akram - 26.0%, Waqar Younis - 27.4%

Playing Together (Tests) - 61
Playing Together (Wickets) - Wasim Akram - 282, Waqar Younis - 277 - Total - 559
Playing Together (Avg.) - Wasim Akram - 21.33, Waqar Younis - 22.93 - Combined - 22.12
Playing Together (SR) - Wasim Akram - 49.21, Waqar Younis - 42.03 - Combined - 45.65
Playing Together (% Share together) - 55.7%

Breakup of Akram's career (104 tests, 15 tests per quarter) - Wkts, Avg, SR, 5 Wkts/Innings, 10 Wkts/Match
First Quarter- 81 (Wkts), 27.77 (Av), 65.22 (SR), 4 (5 W/I), 1 (10 W/M)
Second Quarter- 136 (Wkts), 20.55 (Av), 46.98 (SR), 11 (5 W/I), 2 (10 W/M)
Third Quarter- 120 (Wkts), 21.04 (Av), 49.39 (SR), 6 (5 W/I), 1 (10 W/M)
Final Leg- 77 (Wkts), 28.7 (Av), 65.3 (SR), 4 (5 W/I), 1 (10 W/M)

Breakup of Waqar's career (87 tests, 21 tests per quarter for three quarters, 24 tests in last quarter) - Wkts, Avg, SR, 5 Wkts/Innings, 10 Wkts/Match
First Quarter- 108 (Wkts), 19.57 (Av), 38.87 (SR), 11 (5 W/I), 2 (10 W/M)
Second Quarter- 109 (Wkts), 23.75 (Av), 41.62 (SR), 8 (5 W/I), 2 (10 W/M)
Third Quarter- 79 (Wkts), 24.09 (Av), 45.43 (SR), 2 (5 W/I), 1 (10 W/M)
Final Leg- 77 (Wkts), 28.34 (Av), 50.65 (SR), 1 (5 W/I), 0 (10 W/M)

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