Former Pakistan pacer Umar Gul appointed Afghanistan’s bowling coach

Former Pakistan speedster Umar Gul has been appointed the new bowling coach of the Afghanistan national team. Gul will take over the role from Afghanistan’s upcoming tour of Zimbabwe, where they are set to play the limited-overs fixtures.

Notably, Gul started his post-playing career last year when he replaced Abdur Razzaq as the bowling coach of Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). In April, he was employed by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) as their bowling consultant during a training and preparation camp in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). His effectiveness while working with the fast bowlers of Afghanistan turned out to be the base point for the country’s cricket board to rope in Gul as the bowling coach.

“Gul was recently employed by the Afghanistan Cricket Board as the bowling consultant for the recently held training and preparation camp in UAE in April,” said a statement from the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB).

“The Pakistani veteran worked with the fast bowlers in our national lineup, and considering his effectiveness in the camp as well as based on the need, it was decided to offer him a permanent contract as the national team’s bowling coach,” the statement added.

Gul, who bid farewell to all forms of cricket in October 2020, represented Pakistan in 47 Tests, 60 T20Is and 130 ODIs. The right-armer claimed 163 wickets in red-ball format and 85 scalps in T20Is. When it comes to the 50-over format, Gul went on to take 179 wickets. He was also a member of the Pakistani side, which won the T20 World Cup in 2009.

Speaking about the Afghanistan team, the white-ball unit left for Zimbabwe on Wednesday afternoon for three ODIs and as many T20Is. The ODI leg will be part of the World Cup Super League, where Afghanistan are ranked at No. 5 while Zimbabwe are in 12th position.