Umar Gul, the Pakistan pace bowler who was once considered one of the best Twenty20 bowlers in the world, has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. Umar Gul made his Test debut in 2003 and is best remembered for his five-wicket haul against India in Lahore. In the 2009 World T20, his bowling was the key reason for Pakistan winning the cup for the first time.
Umar Gul, the Pakistan pace bowler who was once considered one of the best Twenty20 International bowlers a decade back, has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. The announcement was made following the end of the National T20 Cup encounter between Balochistan and Southern Punjab. Balochistan lost to Southern Punjab and they could not secure a place in the play-offs. Following the end of the match, Umar Gul thanked everyone who had supported him in his near two-decade cricket journey and said that it was time to move on.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my cricket, which has taught me the values of hard work, respect, commitment and determination. During this journey, I have had the pleasure of meeting numerous people who have helped and supported me in some way. I want to thank all those people as well as my teammates and peers for their support. I owe a big thank you to the fans who supported me throughout my journey. They have been an inspiration, especially at times when the going was not great. It will be difficult to stay away from cricket and I now look forward to giving back to the sport and the country that has made me one of the most fortunate people on the planet,” Gul said.
The ‘Gul’dozer
Umar Gul made an impression in the 2002 Under-19 World Cup. With Pakistan under transition from the retirements from Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, Umar Gul was drafted into the Pakistan cricket team in 2003 during the Test series against Bangladesh. However, his first major success came against India in the 2004 Lahore Test in which he took five wickets and ran through the famed Indian batting top order as Pakistan bounced back from the loss in Multan to level the series.
In 47 Tests, Gul picked up 163 wickets at an average of 34.06. In ODIs, he picked 179 wickets at an average of 29.34. However, his contributions in T20Is put him in a different level. He picked 85 wickets at 16.97, a tally bettered only by four bowlers- Lasith Malinga (107), Shahid Afridi (98), Shakib Al Hasan (92) and Rashid Khan (89).
His ability to nail the reverse swinging yorker in T20Is and run through opposition batting line-ups in the shorter format of the game earned him the nickname ‘Gul’dozer. In the 2009 World T20I, his 13 wickets made him the leading wicket-taker in that edition. His one spell of 5/6 from three overs against New Zealand was hailed as one of the spells of the tournament. His great performances in Twenty20s has seen him feature in an edition of the Indian Premier League, where he played one season in 2008 for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
However, injury concerns forced him out of the reckoning and he wa left out of the side for the 2015 World Cup. Umar Gul continued to perform well in domestic cricket, having last played international cricket in 2016.
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 "Umar Gul Pakistan")
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