UMAR GUL REVEALS FIVE QUALITY PACERS FOR PAKISTAN’S WORLD CUP SQUAD

GUL REVEALS 5 QUALITY PACERS FOR PAK WC SQUAD:

Umar Gul as we all know was one of the best fast bowlers to ever play the game for Pakistan and now recently he has also worked in the management and coaching roles for the Pakistan team. In his latest interview, he expressed his views on the current bowling attack of the Pakistan cricket team leading into the Cricket World Cup.

The former Pakistani pacer revealed the five potential pacers that he wants to see in the squad of the Pakistan team for the upcoming ICC ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 later this year in India. Gul has picked five bowlers which he thinks are the best pace attack for Pakistan – there are four right-arm bowlers and one left-arm pacer in that list of Umar Gul.

‘’ If we talk about our bowling, the pace attack we had in the recently concluded series against New Zealand should continue as they are the best bowlers for the 2023 ICC World Cup. They are Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Ihsanullah, Haris Rauf, and Muhammad Wasim Jnr ‘’, he said.

In this recent interview with Cricket Pakistan, the former cricketer has also revealed his thoughts about the current Pakistani bowlers, he thinks Pakistan has a quality pace attack but the spin attack of the Pakistan team is also of the same pedigree and it becomes more important when the upcoming World Cup is in India where spin plays a very crucial role for a team’s success.

‘’ If you talk about the spin, as we know the mega-event will be played in India, then you need help from spinners, and when you have quality spin all-rounders like Muhammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan, our chances to win matches in those conditions are quite brilliant ‘’, he added.

‘’ Even if you at the fast bowlers of the Pakistan team, there is also potential among those to chip in for the team if needed – Wasim Jnr has that potential to score crucial runs and even Shaheen Shah has won matches for Lahore Qalandars with his batting abilities. You can’t play all all-rounders but I think we have an excellent and balanced bowling side ‘’, he further added.

Umar Gul believes that the Pakistan team with one of the best bowling attacks in the world can do wonders in the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023, even though he is also not sure whether the team will tour India for the World Cup, still, he has high hopes from the current bowlers.

‘’ We have a lot of expectations from the bowlers and if we go there and participate in the World Cup, then the results can be in our favor and we have a lot of chances of winning the tournament ‘’, he further added.

Umar Gul further picks Zaman Khan over Hassan Ali and Muhammad Hasnain, Gull thinks he is a very talented bowler for Pakistan who can add value to the team because of his skill level and the way he has been bowling for the last 2 years for every team.

‘’ If you see the recent performances so I think Zaman Khan is a bowler who can play for Pakistan in both formats even if it’s T20 or ODI cricket – he can bowl well with the new ball because of his different bowling action he gets a bit more swing and has a very controlled variation, we have seen in Pakistan Super League that he has won matches for his team so I think Zaman Khan is the best option from the other two bowlers ‘’, he added.

The former Pakistani cricketer in his latest interview was given a choice to pick one between Sarfaraz Ahmed, Muhammad Haris, and Muhammad Rizwan for the World Cup. He backed Muhammad Rizwan to be a part of the Pakistan World Cup squad as the first-choice keeper.

‘’ There is no doubt that the performances of Rizwan from last 1-2 years, Muhammad Rizwan is your regular wicket-keeper and if possible in a squad of 15 players, as we have seen him playing against Afghanistan and against New Zealand – you can pick Muhammad Haris as the backup for the World Cup ‘’, he concluded.

Umer Gull believes that Sarfaraz Ahmed has performed very well in the test match arena for the Pakistan team as he praised his comeback in the recent TEST series but he thinks that Sarfaraz Ahmed can still only be your second choice keeper in TEST cricket.