Injured Umar Gul more likely to skip Asia Cup 2010
Pakistan pacer Umar Gul is unlikely to play in the forthcoming Asia cup, to be held in Sri Lanka from June 15-24. Gul is nursing a shoulder injury that forced him out of the recently concluded T20 World Cup.
Gul was included in the preliminary 35-man squad announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday for this years’ Asia Cup and the England tour.
Chances for the injured Umar Gul to play in the Asia Cup appear to be dim as he has been advised by the country’s top cricket managers to get himself fully fit for the forthcoming tour of England.
The pace bowler injured his right shoulder when he fell gawkily in a training camp for the T20 World Cup and later missed the tournament too.
Although the injury has almost recovered, doctors have recommended him not to risk it and instead plan to make a comeback for the more important tour of England in July, where Pakistan will face Australia as well.
"I had an MRI done on it a few days back and compared to the first one I had immediately after the injury, the shoulder has 80-90% healed," Gul told to the media.
Umar Gul is one of Pakistan’s best in-form fast bowlers in all the three formats of cricket.
So far, Umar Gul has 103 ODI Wickets from 69 One-Day matches at an average of 27.19. His best ODI bowling against an international team was listed at 5/17.
In first class cricket, Gul has 96 scalps from 26 Test appearances at the average of 34.62. His best test bowling so far is 6/135.
With 43 wickets from 26 matches at an average of 12.81, Umar Gul is one of the most successful T20 bowlers.
The management has asked speedster Gul not to hasten his recovery program in order to make him available for the Asia Cup, as is needed on the English tour.
Gul has been asked to concentrate upon the 'home' series against Australia and England, during which Pakistan would play five One-day Internationals, six Test matches and four T20 matches from July-September.
The recently appointed captain for all formats of cricket, Shahid Afridi had a conversation with Gul in which the pacer told him that his injured shoulder is still pretty sore.
Afridi told media reporters that he himself had asked Gul to get fit for the England tour. He has admired Gul’s vital role in Pakistan's pace attack, especially in the death overs of an innings.
"Gul is one of our key players and we want him to get fit as soon as possible. It's unfortunate that he is unlikely to play in the Asia Cup but I'm sure that he would be fully fit for the tour of England." Said Afridi
The skipper said that he has told Gul that he should take his time to pull through the injury because the team wants him to be fully fit for the series against Australia and England.
The Asia Cup kicks off from June 15 in Dambulla. The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced a provisional list of 35 players for the two summer assignments in which Gul has also been included. A short training camp is scheduled in the first week of June in Karachi after which a final 15-man squad will be announced for the Asia Cup. Gul is planning to be part of the camp so that he could start working with David Dwyer, the team trainer and the team's physiotherapist.
"I am trying to find out whether it is ok for me to attend the camp because I can at least start training with David and other members of the fitness team," Gul said.
It was expected that the injured speedster would get fit for the upcoming Asia Cup but now, the authorities have asked him to focus on the crucial England tour from July to September.
Now, it is obvious that Umar Gul will not make the cut for the final 15-man squad that will play in the four-nation Asia Cup beginning from the 15th of June in Dambulla.
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