Umar Gul: Pakistan’s bowling saviour- plays v Kenya in ICC World up 2011
Height along with fine physical health matters a lot in the life of a cricketer and especially for a pace bowler. Pakistan cricket team’s pace master, Umar Gul, knows how to utilize his 6-foot 1-inch height and extract the maximum from flat batting tracks.
Gul has saved Pakistan’s cricket team from dire straits. He was called to balm the wounds of the Pakistani failures in the ICC World Cup 2003.
After playing just 9 Class-A matches, Gul staged himself on the international front. The limited overs cricket turned to be his area of expertise and he soon became the leading wicket taker in T20 cricket.
Gul has been the most refined pacer Pakistan has produced in recent years and came from humble beginnings. Gul was born on 14 April, 1984 into a Pakhtun family of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/A-Young-c41367 age towards the nerve-testing
game i.e. cricket.
He used to be a part of every local tape-ball tournament. Then he started the hard-ball game that soon made him into a ground-breaking pacer.
On the basis of his stunning and shinning performances, he started playing First-Class cricket. Soon his popularity spread like wild fire and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) gave him a call.
In the aftermath of the ICC World Cup 2003 debacle, Pakistan’s cricket team was in tatters. The nerve-crushing defeats in the tournament broke the moral of the players down and cricket became a point of debate on the national forums of Pakistan as a dead-loss
diversion.
Gul came on the forefront to give new life to the Pakistani cricket. He nullified all the misperceptions that were rampant about the Men in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Green-c60723.
Gul was first tried in the Sharjah Cup 2003. On 3 April, 2003, Gul stepped into the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium to play the first ever One Day International (ODI) of his career against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045.
Gul held a new ball and threw 7 overs, bagging 2 wickets for just 25 runs. Gul’s performance led his side to win by 68 runs. This maiden success laid the foundation stone for towering success that is adorned with abundant medals and tittles.
In August 2003, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 toured Pakistan to play a Test and an ODI series. The first Test of the series started on 20 August at National Stadium Karachi. Making his Test debut, Gul, took 2 wickets for 91 runs in the first innings. Pakistan won the match
by 7 wickets.
After that Pakistan tied a Test series against New Zealand. Gul took 4 wickets in a match that was drawn. Then Gul was mandated to play a Test series against Pakistan’s traditional rivals, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750. In the second Test of the series, Gul bounced upon the Indian
seamers like a hawk and bowled out Virender Sehwag in the second over. During the spell of 12 overs, Gul broke the top five batsmen down including the ‘Test Pundits’ http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rahul-c83321 Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar.
However, Gul suffered a serious injury and was sidelined for two years. During this time, his abilities ripped up.
Upon his return in 2007, he was selected for the squad of the ICC T20 World Cup. In the absence of pace men Shoaib Akhtar and Abdul Razzaq, Gul was entrusted with a responsibility to lead the pace attack. The tournament was played in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757.
Gul started his T20 career with a match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kenya-c752 on 4 September, 2007. He could not take any wicket in his maiden T20. However, he ended up as the highest wicket taker of the tournament with 13 wickets.
Gul perpetuated his legacy in the 2009 edition of the T20 World Cup. In a match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754, Gul made a five-wicket haul for just six runs. He was the first player to take 5 wickets in a T20 game. Pakistan won the tournament with Gul again as the
top wicket taker.
In 2008, Gul played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Shahrukh Khan’s http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Knight-c71599 Riders. He gained 12 wickets in 6 matches. At the end of the same year, Gul signed for Western Warriors and again ended up with 12 wickets.
During his 8 year old career, Gul has played 34 Tests, 80 ODIs and 34 T20s. His record list includes 125 Test, 119 ODI and 47 T20 wickets.
The 26-year old Umar Gul is now playing his second ICC World Cup that is being played in the Subcontinent. Gul is the major building block of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s pace attack. Spectators can look forward to his pace bowling against some of the best batsmen in the
world.
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