Former Pakistani bowler Umar Gul has been appointed as the new bowling coach for Afghanistan Men’s National Cricket team.
He is expected to take up his responsibility ahead of the upcoming limited series of Afghanistan against the West Indies. Afghanistan Cricket Board shared the news on Wednesday. “Former Pakistan right-arm fast bowler @mdk_gulhas been named as the new bowling coach of our national man’s cricket team. He will step up into the role ahead of the upcoming limited-overs away series against @ZimCricketv,” said Afghan Cricket Board.
Looking forward to working with this energetic and hardworking group of boys once again, this time for longer inshaAllah. https://t.co/ZAdCvJhA1N
— Umar Gul (@mdk_gul) May 25, 2022
Umar Gull responding to the tweet expressed his excitement over working with the Afghan national team. “Looking forward to working with this energetic and hardworking group of boys once again, this time for longer inshaAllah,” said Umar Gul in a tweet.
The appointment of Umar Gul come after a successful stint as a bowling coach at Afghanistan’s training camp in April.
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The 39-year-old cricketer has made 237 international appearances for Pakistan in the international format. He has taken 179 wickets in 13 ODI matches and bagged 85 in6 T20Is at an economy rate of 7.19.
Umar Gul was the top wicket-taker in the ICC T20 World Cups in both 2007 and 2009.
Being a coach of the Afghanistan National Cricket Team, the first task of Umar Gul is to help pass Afghanistan the three-match ICC Cricket World Cup Super League series against Zimbabwe to qualify for the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023.
In the last T20 World Cup, Afghanistan had given a tough competition to Pakistan but lost the game in the end.
Meanwhile, several Afghan cricketers have started playing in Pakistan Super League like Rashid Khan and Muhammad Nabi.
Afghan players are gaining experience by playing in the Pakistani cricket league. Muhammad Nabi played with Karachi Kings and Rashid Khan played with Lahore Qalandars.