[18] He replaced Azhar Mahmood, who was sacked after Pakistan's disappointing performance in the ICC World Cup 2019 tournament.

Younis was born in Burewala, Vehari district, Punjab, Pakistan to a Punjabi Jat family.

[20] He was raised in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, where his father was a contract worker for a Chinese construction company.

[21] During his school and college days he was what he himself calls an all-round athlete, being a runner, a javelin thrower, a high jumper and a pole-vaulter in different competitions, initially being a leg-spinner before choosing pace bowling.

[22] Since 2000 he is married to Faryal, a Pakistani-Australian doctor, the family residing in Castle Hill, New South Wales, in Australia.

He was eventually discovered by former Pakistan captain, Imran Khan and was selected to be part of the national side.

By taking 113 wickets in 582 overs for Surrey in 1991, at a mere 14.65 apiece (thereby topping the season's first-class bowling averages),[30] and by carrying on his shoulders an otherwise moderate county attack, he announced himself as one of the finest contemporary bowlers.

[37] At his peak, he developed into a very quick fast bowler and achieved a hat-trick in a One Day International match against New Zealand in 1994.

[53][54] He guided the defending champions to the semi-final of the tournament before they were eliminated by Australia, whose Mike Hussey struck three sixes in the final over.

[56] In the following match Pakistan lost narrowly against India courtesy of a six by Harbhajan Singh from the third ball of the final over.

[60] This saw the three players temporarily suspended[61] and Pakistan lost by an innings and 225 runs – their biggest defeat in history.

Pakistan went on to beat West Indies in the quarter-finals by 10 wickets but lost to India in the semi-finals by 29 runs.

Waqar eventually stepped down as Pakistan coach in August 2011 citing personal reasons but a rift with captain Shahid Afridi may have been a contributing factor.

[67] In March 2013, it was announced that he would join Sunrisers Hyderabad as their bowling coach for the Indian Premier League 2013 season.

[68] In May 2014, Waqar was reappointed as the head coach of Pakistan Cricket team for a period of two years, commencing from June 2014, hence serving in that capacity for the second time.

[70] He will serve as the head coach for Multan Sultans During the Third season of the Pakistan Super League.

[71] On 16 November 2017 Waqar appointed as a mentor for Sylhet Sixers a team of Bangladesh Premier League for 2017.

[74] Waqar Younis faced great criticism after Pakistan was unable to make it to the semi-finals, with less focus on the fact that the country had not seen international cricket for a number of years.

[75] Waqar 'begged' for forgiveness to the nation and said he was ready to retire if it was needed but also said it could have been due to the lack of cricket in their own country.

[77][78] Younis, in the report, accused Afridi of being 'non-serious' during the matches and said Mohammad Hafeez hid his knee injury as well, which also affected their performance.

He then also scrapped plans of retirement and said he wanted to focus on the leak, despite his contract as coach ending in June 2016.

He said it was unfair for him to first use Mohammad Nawaz, a new player, as a bowler in the Asia Cup 2016 because it 'destroyed' his confidence when he was unable to handle it after being hit for 38 runs in 3 overs.

He stepped down as coach 3 months before his contract would end and said that his scrapped salary should definitely be invested in domestic cricket.

He added that he had tried his best to revive the team but they were still unable to better their performance and his recommendations in the report were badly handled by the PCB, who refused to even talk about the leak.

Following Pakistan's victory during the Test match series versus England in 1992, the English media were suspicious of the reverse swing delivery.

[29] The world's fastest sprinter and runner Usain Bolt, who is from Jamaica (in the West Indies), once replied while being asked about who were his heroes when he was a child: "When I was really small I loved the Pakistan cricket team.

He became the 70th male inductee into the Hall of Fame, joining compatriot Hanif Mohammad and Zaheer Abbas as well as his former teammates Imran Khan, Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram.

[111] After Pakistan beat India for the first time in an ICC tournament (the 2021 T20 WC), Waqar said that "watching Rizwan do namaz in front of Hindus was very special."