Despite his grievances with Pakistan’s former team management, Gul is hopeful he will be treated fairly by those in charge currently. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI: Veteran fast-bowler Umar Gul, who is currently out of the national fold, has lashed out at the Pakistan team’s former management for not giving him a proper chance on his comeback earlier this year against New Zealand.
The 32-year-old is currently busy playing a Ramazan cricket tournament in Karachi with Omar Associates and believes that he can serve Pakistan for at least a few more years.
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“As a senior player, you expect to be backed when you are coming back from an injury but the previous team management didn’t do justice with me as they played me in only a few matches and then discarded me,” Gul told The Express Tribune.
“On your comebacks, you need more opportunities to get in rhythm and not just one or two outings because your confidence is low,” he added. “I was just feeling my way back against New Zealand and then I was dropped after two T20Is. I still feel that I wasn’t given a fair crack of the whip.”
The pacer out of Peshawar has played 47 Tests for Pakistan in which he has taken 163 wickets, while his count stands at 126 wickets in ODIs.
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Before his career was plagued by serious injuries, Gul was arguably the best bowler in T20Is, a claim justified by his haul of 85 wickets in 60 matches in the game’s shortest format.
His critics may have written him off already, but that doesn’t deter Gul much. After all, it is not the first time the injury-prone cricketer has been branded a spent force due to fitness issues.
“I’ve suffered quite a few injuries in my career but as a fast-bowler you’re prone to them. People wrote me off after the career-threatening back injury at the very start of my career, but I came back stronger than ever, which fuels my belief that I can still have a part to play for Pakistan,” said Gul.
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And hope has not waned for Gul. “I’m hoping that the current selection committee, led by Inzamamul Haq, will give me a chance,” he said. “I’ve played under Inzi bhai and he knows my attitude towards the game so I’m hopeful that under this new regime, a call up to the national side is around the corner. As a player, all I need to do is to remain fit and keep performing to get noticed.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 25th, 2016.
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