Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal named Pakistan's bowling coaches
Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal have been appointed as the pace-bowling and spin-bowling coaches of the Pakistan men's cricket team, respectively. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the same on November 21. The duo has replaced South Africa's Morne Morkel, who stepped down as the bowling coach following Pakistan's poor show in the recently-concluded 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup. Here are further details.
Stalwarts of Pakistan cricket
As both Gul and Ajmal enjoyed remarkable success as Pakistan cricketers, expectations are high from them. Their inaugural assignments in these roles will be the Test series against Australia, starting on December 14. Earlier this year, Gul served Team Pakistan as the bowling coach for the T20I series against Afghanistan and the subsequent series against New Zealand.
A look at Gul's numbers
Gul represented Pakistan in 47 Tests, 130 ODIs, and 60 T20Is from 2003 to 2016 (5W: 4). He claimed 163 wickets in Test matches at 34.06. In ODIs, he returned with 179 wickets at 29.34 (5W: 2). While he claimed 85 T20I wickets, his average of 16.97 is the best among the full-member team pacers with at least 50 wickets (5W: 2).
Ajmal was the top-ranked ODI bowler
Ajmal, the former top-ranked ODI bowler, played international cricket between 2008 and 2015. The former off-spinner returned with 178 wickets in 35 Tests at 28.11 (5W: 10). In 113 T20Is, he claimed 184 wickets at 22.72 (5W: 2). He also owns 85 wickets in 64 T20Is at 17.84. Both Ajmal and Gul also have coaching experiences in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
WC 2023: Pakistan fail to reach semis
Morkel's decision to resign came after Pakistan failed to reach the semi-finals. The Men in Green started with two consecutive wins, but four defeats thereafter derailed their campaign. Babar Azam and his men were then dependent upon other results in order to go through. However, New Zealand finished fourth with an extra win and a better Net Run Rate, thereby knocking out Pakistan.
Pakistan's bowling took a hit
Pakistan, who boast a world-class pace attack, faltered in World Cup 2023. Although Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf bowled impactful spells, their bowling failed as a unit. Pakistan also missed Naseem Shah, who was ruled out with a shoulder injury. Hasan Ali replaced him but to no avail. Pakistan's spinners Usama Mir, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, and Shadab Khan scalped only 12 wickets combined.
