It is a common perception in cricket that fast bowlers do not make good captains.

South Africa's Shaun Pollock, for example, was criticised for his regimented tactics during their 3-0 Test series defeat in Australia.

Courtney Walsh won only six of the 22 Tests in which he led West Indies, while Kapil Dev fared even worse for India with just four victories in 34 matches.

Of all the Test-playing nations, however, it is Pakistan who have been most willing to ignore accepted practice.

Imran Khan led the team to World Cup success in Australia in 1992 and Wasim Akram also had some notable highs during his spell as skipper.

Since last year, Waqar Younis has been charged with the responsibility of leading a team, which so often has failed to translate immense natural talent into consistent success.

He had skippered Pakistan once against Zimbabwe in Karachi in 1993, a match in which he took 13 wickets, but his second chance did not arrive in promising circumstances.

The team, disrupted by injuries and internal divisions, had just under-performed in New Zealand, while Waqar himself was thought by some to be well past his best.

But in less than 12 months, he has imposed a discipline and self-belief which should stand them in good stead when they take on the West Indies.

Thriving on responsibility

"In Imran's day, although they had some fabulous cricketers, you could almost perceive that Imran was the team - he had such a profound effect upon it.

"Waqar is a very different type of character. He was consistently having to prove himself from '99 onwards and what happened in England (last year) was he stood up as captain and said I'm going to take a lot of responsibility for the performance of the team," former Pakistan coach Richard Pybus told BBC Sport Online.

"He led by example. He bowled absolutely magnificently. I think a lot of the time with leadership, it's as much about the example you set as it is about the things that you say.

"Waqar isn't a huge demonstrative talker. When he does talk, it's short and it's sweet and it's passionate."

The cares of captaincy have, if anything, merely served to improve Waqar's own performance with the ball.

He has 344 wickets in 76 Tests at an average of 22.62, but his 32 in five Tests as captain have only cost 16.28 each.