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[VIDEOS] Who has bowled the best inswinging yorkers?

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Saj

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Seeing the Waqar Younis bowling to Sachin Tendulkar video clip got me thinking.

There have been going some great bowlers of the inswinging yorker over the years, but who was the greatest and why?
 
Since I started watching cricket no one has done it like Wahab Riaz, especially the one in the 2011 WC first ball to Yuvraj Singh.
 
Waqar used to bowl some real good ones to lefties as well. I remember he got out jayasurya a couple of times with those inswinging yorkers.
 
Waqar followed by Akhtar.

I wouldn't rate Malinga's too highly just from the visual point of view. For me, the swing, which Malinga's yorkers don't have, is key to some of the most beautiful and deadly yorkers.
 
I know Waqar is the obvious choice, but how can you guys forget these two balls.


 
iPakistani said:
Since I started watching cricket no one has done it like Wahab Riaz, especially the one in the 2011 WC first ball to Yuvraj Singh.
Click to expand...

Man that gives me goosebumps thinking about it.


Too bad Wahab just withered away
 
Batsmen play reverse swing much better now. Back in the days the W benefitted from the fact it was a novelty at the time.
 
Savak said:
Batsmen play reverse swing much better now. Back in the days the W benefitted from the fact it was a novelty at the time.
Click to expand...

Waqar if play today being a 20yr old most batsmen would play him? Back in the days more technical batsmen were also there, today we have more hacks and no quality bowler
 
Malinga. Bowls Yorkers at will and doesn't need any tampering.
 
Saj said:
Seeing the Waqar Younis bowling to Sachin Tendulkar video clip got me thinking.

There have been going some great bowlers of the inswinging yorker over the years, but who was the greatest and why?
Click to expand...

No one did it better then Waqar it's just a damn shame he could not replicate them in World Cups, either he was too weak to take part in 92 or too weak in the head in 96, too rubbish in 99 and just too old in 03. But he had a great Test Career and will still be remembered as an ATG.
 
Waqar Younis, no one comes close. Afterwards, Shoaib Akhtar, Malinga, Umar Gul, Bond, Starc, Wasim, Bumrah, Klusener in no particular order
 
Chokli said:
Man that gives me goosebumps thinking about it.


Too bad Wahab just withered away
Click to expand...

That was his only good spell for the whole next 4 years. He bowled well in WC15 and in some matches(2nd Test vs England in UAE) in the next couple of years. That's it. He was never really a special ODI bowler to begin with. He had a good start to ODI and had one good WC(2015), and one good match in 2011 and that's about it.
 
Some great names mentioned already.

Another I will throw in is Darren Gough who bowled at a good pace too.
 
Snowflake said:
Waqar followed by Akhtar.

I wouldn't rate Malinga's too highly just from the visual point of view. For me, the swing, which Malinga's yorkers don't have, is key to some of the most beautiful and deadly yorkers.
Click to expand...

Malinga does swing it.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y4_JevD0A4I" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
I would agree with Waqar. Akhtar, Bond, Wasim and Malinga. I personally would add James Anderson to list. He had some killer inswingers.
 
Plumb said:
Waqar if play today being a 20yr old most batsmen would play him? Back in the days more technical batsmen were also there, today we have more hacks and no quality bowler
Click to expand...

Batsmen play 150 km/hr stuff more fluently these days, it is questionable if Waqar could replicate the same form of his peak bowling in the graveyard conditions of the UAE and bowling to the likes of Kohli, Sharma on flat pacy Indian wickets where Indian players score 350-400 runs in ODI's for fun.
 
Waqar, plenty on Youtube, not seen anything like it, he swung it a heck of lot and at serious pace - box office stuff.
 
Savak said:
Batsmen play 150 km/hr stuff more fluently these days, it is questionable if Waqar could replicate the same form of his peak bowling in the graveyard conditions of the UAE and bowling to the likes of Kohli, Sharma on flat pacy Indian wickets where Indian players score 350-400 runs in ODI's for fun.
Click to expand...

Well for one thing there aren't that many 150 km/hr bowlers out there. You could probably count them on one hand. Secondly, it's not about just pace. Mohammad Sami was as quick as any but hardly the most difficult bowler to bat against. The reason a young fast prime Waqar Younis yorker was impossible to play was the big banana swing he got when the ball started reversing. Between picking the line of the ball(usually fifth stump) and where it ended(leg stump) was split seconds and late swing. Wouldn't have been easy in any generation including this one. Sure some may negotiate it successfully, as some did then too, but no chance for the vast majority of batters.

The one thing that would have almost certainly affected waqar's efficacy would be the two new ball rules. Now you dont get 30+ over old balls in ODIs, which is a shame to be honest, and a major cause of 350+ scores. In test cricket you do, and even now if the ball starts reversing, most batsmen tend to be at sea.

On a side note, Imran had a pretty vicious in-dipper, but that was more seam and cut.

On a second side note, that full 3 min Shoaib Akhtar video still causes goosebumps, something mere clips of the wickets don't capture. The noise(in anticipation) that builds during his extremely long run up, even in India, was the greatest feeling a cricket stadium could generate. Sensational stuff.
 
Last edited:
Waqar Younis!!!! The yorker to dismiss Lara (one of the greatest batsmen of all time)has to be the greatest Yorker ever bowled look at the video and tell me if there's any better Yorker bowled.
 
Best two balls were Shoaib's two consecutive yorkers to Sachin and Dravid.

Best spell of reverse swing by a Pakistan has to go to Sarfraz Nawaz 8 wkts for one run. Sarfraz Nawaz 9/86 vs Australia 1st test 1978/79 MCG. He invented the reverse swinging yorkers and Imran perfected it because he had more speed.
 
Rayyman said:
Malinga does swing it.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y4_JevD0A4I" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Click to expand...

Dude, that is minimal swing when compared to Waqar or Akhtar who would bring it in from miles outside the set of stumps.

Also, he lacks packs.
 
Anyone who's seen Waqar at his pomp would just laugh at the names being thrown around in this thread :)) :)) - The only other person to even come close to Waqar (in terms of in swinging yorkers) was Akhtar.

Both were literally 155+ at their peak which the bowlers they've been compared to here wouldn't even hit in their wildest dreams.
 
Savak said:
Batsmen play reverse swing much better now. Back in the days the W benefitted from the fact it was a novelty at the time.
Click to expand...
Main reason Waqar was so good with his Yorkers was the banana swing no bowler in history has replicated that amount of swing with his Yorkers now wether that happened due to certain activities with the ball is another debate but no matter what the era what the batsman Waqar would run through lineups with that delivery the Rohits and the Kohli ain’t doing jack.
 
shaz619 said:
No one did it better then Waqar it's just a damn shame he could not replicate them in World Cups, either he was too weak to take part in 92 or too weak in the head in 96, too rubbish in 99 and just too old in 03. But he had a great Test Career and will still be remembered as an ATG.
Click to expand...

Waqar did bowl inswinging Yorkers in the 96 world cup in the group stage. Just not in the quarterfinal.
 
I have been watching live cricket since the early 80s. ... religiously, i have seen bowlers in the sarfaraz, imran, hadlee era, and then wasim waqar, then shoaib/sami/gul and now and i am fairly confident in saying nobody bowled them like Waqar Younis.. not Was, not Shoaib.. not Imran, Anderson, malinga, tait... anybody..

Waqar was the best in his era and now when it comes to inswinging yorkers.. hands down!!
 
Nikhil_cric said:
Waqar did bowl inswinging Yorkers in the 96 world cup in the group stage. Just not in the quarterfinal.
Click to expand...

He missed his length in the QF possibly the pressure got to him no one could touch Waqar when he hit his length right
 
waqar by far the best.. because they swung very very late..
Ive never seen any other bowler find the yorker length that easily.
Tailor-made action for inswingers
 
Xoib said:
He missed his length in the QF possibly the pressure got to him no one could touch Waqar when he hit his length right
Click to expand...

Yeah but not by much. He simply wasn't getting much reverse anyway and Jadeja was ruthless that day.
 
Obvious answer is Waqar.

But I loved watching Donald's yorkers as well, I think he was the best after Waqar and Wasim.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It doesn't matter what the pitch is like or what the overhead conditions are - a yorker can be a match-changing delivery. That's why Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were so special and why Jasprit Bumrah is so good <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ENGvIND?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ENGvIND</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1434880709198483463?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Bumrah is the best exponent of the yorker in international cricket today, Starc and Rabada close behind.
 
Waqar, Shoaib in no particular order. Both devastating. Wasim too - could do it both ways but obv without the extreme pace.

Honourable mentions: Malinga, Gough, Starc, Sami (prior to 2004), Gul from 2006 onwards.

The people that say Waqar would not be as effective now because batsmen play it better need not look any further than the dismissal of Bairstow today. Really that was a baby yorker by bumrah. Nowhere near as quick as Waqar or Shoaib and just a hint of movement (not the banana swing of W and Sh) and he still got the result.

Waqar and shoaib’s yorkers would still be devastating even today. Maybe slightly less effective in white ball but then we don’t have 95mph reverse swings bowlers anymore
 
Reverse swing should have named bottle cap swing. It was invented with bottle cap but later rectified to use with old ball mostly.
 
Waqar was the master of this craft. Later on Darren Gough became very good as well.
 
As exciting as Bumrah was yesterday, nothing beats Waqar and Wasim's inswinging yorkers during that England tour. Have only seen Youtube vids of them. But that's enough.
 
Nothing will give me more pleasure than saying "Bumrah bowls best yorkers" but I can't because that won't be true.

Waqar's yorkers are in a different league. Long way to go to reach that level.
That being said, Bumrah is winning his team matches with some great bowling and there is no argument about that.
 
BaankeJi said:
Nothing will give me more pleasure than saying "Bumrah bowls best yorkers" but I can't because that won't be true.

Waqar's yorkers are in a different league. Long way to go to reach that level.
That being said, Bumrah is winning his team matches with some great bowling and there is no argument about that.
Click to expand...

No one can match Waqar's yorkers because no one has the luxury to bowl with a tempered ball.
 
Best yorkers of the T20 World Cup

<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/7cao0k" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%" allowfullscreen style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>
 
Anyone who saw Waqar at his peak, wouldn't mention anyone else. Those 'banana inswinging yorkers were something else. Unplayable. There was a reason he had the best strike rate. Go watch some old videos if you haven't seen him bowl and come back before giving your opinion
 
adzzy786 said:
Anyone who saw Waqar at his peak, wouldn't mention anyone else. Those 'banana inswinging yorkers were something else. Unplayable. There was a reason he had the best strike rate. Go watch some old videos if you haven't seen him bowl and come back before giving your opinion
Click to expand...

For me the 1988/1989 Australiasia Cup was the defining moment...
 
Agreed.. Waqar Younis ke koi qareeb bhi nahi Ata.. he was the ultimate toe crusher.
 
The reason why Waqar's yorkers were a cut above the others is that he bowled them from close to the stumps and actually directed them away towards 2nd or 3rd slip inviting the drive. They would then cruelly boomerang back during the last 3rd of flight. No other bowler has done this before or since
 
Waqar is the obvious and easy answer but you cannot ignore the fact that he bowled with heavily tampered balls.

Those “banana” yorkers were impossible to bowl without using balls thar underwent heavy treatment.

He is by far the biggest beneficiary of ball-tampering in history. One can imagine how lethal Shaheen Afridi’s yorkers would have been if he had the luxury of bowling with those balls.
 
Waqar was by miles the best ever yorker bowler, followed by Shoaib. Nobody comes close to Waqar bowling. Forget about tampering, that may have been widespread by most teams since time in some way or other. England tampered in the 2005 ashes but could never produce the lethal deadly yorkers like Waqar.

Waqar was so good at executing the reverse swing deadly yorker, and as Sir Geoffrey said once '(he and Wasim) could bowl teams out with even an orange'.
 
WC was dissapointing, no real reliable death bowler.

Compare that to Umar gul, coming on at the 12th over and bowler 4 overs straight, yorker after yorker.

Guys like malinga, umar were a treat to watch as you knew batsman would have to play those ramps to get anything off them.

Bumrah is the best of the current lot, and is it any surprise he is one of the best bowlers at the death. Enough of these slower bowls, short length changes.
 
I watch cricket since 1997.

Since 1997, I think it has to be Malinga.

But, I have seen footages of old Waqar and I think he was far more lethal than Malinga.
 
Last edited:
ishtiaq_ctg said:
No one can match Waqar's yorkers because no one has the luxury to bowl with a tempered ball.
Click to expand...

Mamoon said:
Waqar is the obvious and easy answer but you cannot ignore the fact that he bowled with heavily tampered balls.

Those “banana” yorkers were impossible to bowl without using balls thar underwent heavy treatment.

He is by far the biggest beneficiary of ball-tampering in history. One can imagine how lethal Shaheen Afridi’s yorkers would have been if he had the luxury of bowling with those balls.
Click to expand...

Didn't Alec Stewart settle this once n for all and got many to shut their mouths for good when he said,
Let anyone temper with the ball as much he wants, and he still can't bowl like Wasim and Waqar?
:D
 
Colorblind Genius said:
Didn't Alec Stewart settle this once n for all and got many to shut their mouths for good when he said,
Let anyone temper with the ball as much he wants, and he still can't bowl like Wasim and Waqar?
:D
Click to expand...

I cant remember who said it but similarly along the lines of alec stewart, think it was Boycott or Alan Lamb...

Give 99% of bowlers a cricket ball and a bottle top, sandpaper or tampered ball and they wont have a clue what to do with it,

Tampered ball or not it still requires a lot of skill to get the ball to move like the 2 WS did, so many after him tried especially in the county circuit, most failed miserably.
 
Mamoon said:
Waqar is the obvious and easy answer but you cannot ignore the fact that he bowled with heavily tampered balls.

Those “banana” yorkers were impossible to bowl without using balls thar underwent heavy treatment.

He is by far the biggest beneficiary of ball-tampering in history. One can imagine how lethal Shaheen Afridi’s yorkers would have been if he had the luxury of bowling with those balls.
Click to expand...

Many bowlers in that era played with heavily tampered balls, infact i still have a few old balls in the loft somewhere from various grounds around the world that my dad collected, since the late 80s early 90s, you can see many "scuff" marks, scratches irregular chunks taken out of the ball clear signs that this was not natural deterioration, yet no one came close to replicating the sheer impact that waqar would get out of the same ball.
 
silentkiller187 said:
I cant remember who said it but similarly along the lines of alec stewart, think it was Boycott or Alan Lamb...

Give 99% of bowlers a cricket ball and a bottle top, sandpaper or tampered ball and they wont have a clue what to do with it,

Tampered ball or not it still requires a lot of skill to get the ball to move like the 2 WS did, so many after him tried especially in the county circuit, most failed miserably.
Click to expand...

The difference between Wasim and Waqar was that Wasim was an artist with a new, undoctored ball as well. It took Waqar almost a decade to learn to bowl with a new ball.

If he played today he would not be half the bowler he was in his time. He would be one of the most expensive bowlers going around.

What Asif, a superior bowler, said about Waqar is very true.
 
silentkiller187 said:
Many bowlers in that era played with heavily tampered balls, infact i still have a few old balls in the loft somewhere from various grounds around the world that my dad collected, since the late 80s early 90s, you can see many "scuff" marks, scratches irregular chunks taken out of the ball clear signs that this was not natural deterioration, yet no one came close to replicating the sheer impact that waqar would get out of the same ball.
Click to expand...

This.

Why couldn't other bowlers succeed if tampering had such a big impact?

Waqar deserves the credit he gets.
 
Mamoon said:
The difference between Wasim and Waqar was that Wasim was an artist with a new, undoctored ball as well. It took Waqar almost a decade to learn to bowl with a new ball.

If he played today he would not be half the bowler he was in his time. He would be one of the most expensive bowlers going around.

What Asif, a superior bowler, said about Waqar is very true.
Click to expand...

This is nonsense
 
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