Published: Aug 26, 2015, 03:15 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 26, 2015, 03:15 PM (IST)
Umar Gul, the Pakistan fast bowler, 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. READ: Umar Gul urges PCB to follow Indian domestic structure
Looking forward for the come back in #pakteam Inn Shaa Allah pic.twitter.com/gi92fQ5yDj
— Umar55 (@mdk_gul) August 24, 2015
Earlier this year, he played a One-Day International (ODI) and a Twenty20 International (T20I) against Bangladesh when Pakistan toured that country. But his returns were indifferent: one for 23 in two overs in the T20I and 0 for 53 in seven overs in the ODI.
Pakistan will play three Tests, four ODIs and three T20Is against England in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in October this year. Gul was not a part of the successful Test and ODI campaigns against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, an assignment that followed the one in Bangladesh. READ: Pakistan tour of Bangladesh 2015: Umar Gul to replace injured Ehsan Adil
Gul has played only ten ODIs since March, 2013, and a single T20I In this time, he has expressed his interest in getting the captaincy of the T20I team. The bowler from Peshawar is now 31 years old, indicating he has a few more years of competitiveness in international cricket left ahead of him.
