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Pakistan vs England 2016: Umar Gul unhappy following snub

Out-of-favour Pakistan seamer Umar Gul took a dig at the PCB after being overlooked for the upcoming tour to England, which starts from July 14.

Umar Gul expressed his indignation at the country's cricket board for continuously ignoring his desire to make an international return © AFP
Umar Gul expressed his indignation at the country’s cricket board for continuously ignoring his desire to make an international return © AFP

Karachi: Out-of-favour Pakistan seamer Umar Gul took a dig at the PCB after being overlooked for the upcoming tour to England, which starts from July 14. The 32-year-old, whose career has been plagued by several injuries, expressed his indignation at the country’s cricket board for continuously ignoring his desire to make an international return. Insisting that injuries are part of cricket, the right-handed pacer said he is not asking the board to play him, but to provide him with a fair chance to make a comeback. Lashing out at the double standard policy of the PCB , Umar said he was shocked to see him being dropped for the World T20 despite meeting the fitness criteria, the Dawn reported. Umar Gul expresses hope to be back playing for Pakistan, on Twitter

Umar believes the selectors are not willing to trust him despite proving his fitness. The pace bowler’s last ODI appearance came in the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka back in March while he played his last T20 international against New Zealand in January. Umar has appeared in 47 Test matches and claimed 163 wickets, while he has featured in 126 ODIs and bagged 173 wickets for Pakistan. Umar Gul urges PCB to follow Indian domestic structure

Meanwhile, Umar Gul has expressed his intent to return to the Pakistan team with a message on Twitter, alongside a video of him working out in a gymnasium. Gul, once a regular in the team, was sidelined from competitive cricket for about nine months, in 2013, due to a knee injury, and since then has only sporadically played limited-overs cricket for his country. His stamina and fitness has been an issue in this period, something that his absence from the Test arena suggests: his last Test was in February, 2013, against South Africa. He underwent a surgery in Australia and a rehabilitation process, after which other injury issues have kept him away from action.

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