Ex-Pakistan Limited Overs Great Joins Afghanistan As Bowling Coach

The 39-year-old played 237 matches for Pakistan across all formats. Gul picked 179 wickets in 130 ODIs and bagged 85 in 60 T20Is with a miserly career economy of 7.19.

Former Pakistan medium pacer Umar Gul has been named the new bowling coach of the Afghanistan men’s cricket team. Gul was one of the top bowlers in limited overs cricket during his career, playing a crucial role in Pakistan reaching the 2007 ICC WT20 final and winning the title in 2009. The 39-year-old played 237 matches for Pakistan across all formats. Gul picked 179 wickets in 130 ODIs and bagged 85 in 60 T20Is with a miserly career economy of 7.19.

Gul’s first assignment with the Afghanistan team will be the upcoming series against Zimbabwe where the team will play both T20Is as well as ODIs. The three-match ODI series is part of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League and Afghanistan are pushing towards automatic qualification for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.

Afghanistan are fifth in the Super League Standings having won seven of their nine matches to-date, while opponents Zimbabwe are above only Netherlands at the foot of the table.

ODI squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmat Shah (vc), Azmatullah Omarzai, Farid Malik, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Ibrahim Zadran, Ikram Alikhail (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Mujib ur Rahman, Najibullah Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Rashid Khan, Riaz Hassan, Shahidullah Kamal, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zia ur Rahman Akbar.

T20I squad: Mohammad Nabi (c), Najibullah Zadran (vc), Afsar Zazai (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Darwish Rasooli, Farid Ahmad Malik, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Hazratullah Zazai, Ihsanullah Janat, Karim Janat, Nijat Masoud, Noor Ahmad, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Rashid Khan, Sharafuddin Ashraf and Usman Ghani