Reverse swing

Reverse Swing

Reverse swing was first discovered by Sarfraz Nawaz in the 1970s, who then passed it on to another Pakistani bowler, Imran Khan. Khan mastered reverse swing and the evidence of reverse swing by him was seen in 1983 in a Test match against India at Karachi, where he took 5 wickets in 25 balls. Imran Khan subsequently passed this skill on to Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram who are considered to have been the finest exponents of the art.

On Pakistan's 1992 tour of England, England had no answer to the reverse swing, a new phenomenon to them. Pakistan won the series 2-1. The series was controversial one as the Pakistani team were accused of ball tampering, particularly by the English media. However, it was later conceded that the Pakistani bowlers were simply ahead of their time. Following this episode, reverse swing expanded around the cricket world and more bowlers, including those from England, mastered the art.