The introduction of T20I (twenty, twenty international) Cricket, gave birth to new heroes of the game, Umar Gul is one of them. Born in Peshawar (1984), Umar began his 13-year Cricket career in 2003 when Pakistan hosted Zimbabwe in the UAE.
By Lewin Zoe
Umar, who represented Pakistan in 47 Tests, 130 ODIs and 60 T20Is made the decision to retire from all forms of cricket after his side, Balochistan was eliminated from the National T20 Cup last week on Friday.
In Cricket, a yorker is the king of all bowls. It is when the ball lands directly at the batsman’s feet, and it is extremely difficult to hit. T20 Cricket is a game for economical bowlers, wicket-takers and big hitters. Umar Gul made his mark in international cricket through his deadly Yorkers which made him unplayable.
Umar was the leading wicket-taker during Pakistan’s run to the 2007 World T20 final, and also the leading wicket-taker in the 2009 edition when he helped Pakistan to their maiden trophy. In 2009, Umar achieved his best career figures of 5 for 6 against New Zealand at the World T20. By that time, these figures were the best ever T20 bowling figures in the world.
The yorker-man holds the record for leading the all-time T20I bowling rankings with a rating of 857. As if that was enough, Umar is the only fast bowlers who head the top ten which has nine spin bowlers.
A knee injury which started in 2012 made Umar lose his regular place in the national team which also resulted in selectors dropping him for the ODI 2015 World Cup. Umar played 125 first-class, 213 List-A and 167 T20 matches, in which he took a total of 987 wickets.
From Sharjah were Umar marked his mark to international cricket to Rawalpindi where he played his last T20 game, thank you Umar Gul form all the yorkers and celebrations.
