Waqar Younis

Fast bowling, in case it needs telling, is tough. And fast bowlers are, by nature, animals with a very short lifespan.

Yet, there are exceptions -- and Waqar Younis, who made his international debut on the same day as India's Sachin Tendulkar, is one of them. With 759 international wickets under his belt, you would have thought he was approaching his use-by date, but the world's greatest exponent of reverse swing remains as lethal as he always was.

Nicknamed the "Burewala Express", after his central Punjab hometown, Waqar Younis in action is a sight for the gods -- the furious run up, the trademark leap and the hurling action have been much admired, never imitated.

The lethal quality of his bowling is best encapsulated in one statistic -- Younis has 57 per cent of his victims either bowled or LBW, which is way ahead of any other bowler past or present.

With Wasim Akram, Younis formed the most lethal bowling combination seen since the days of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson.

At the peak of his career, as he prepares to lead Pakistan to the World Cup for the first time, Younis discusses with Faisal Shariff the problems of Pakistan cricket, his famous now on now off relationship with mate Wasim Akram, and the intricacies of reverse swing.