Umar Gul Biography
Source(google.com.pk)
Full name Umar Gul
Born April 14, 1984, Peshawar, North-Western Frontier Province
Major
teams Pakistan, Gloucestershire, Habib Bank Limited, Kolkata Knight
Riders, North West Frontier Province, North West Frontier Province
Panthers, Pakistan A, Pakistan International Airlines, Peshawar,
Peshawar Panthers, Western Australia
Playing role Bowler
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium
The
least-hyped but most successful and assured Pakistan pace product of
the last few years, Umar Gul is the latest in Pakistan's assembly-line
of pace-bowling talent. He had played just nine first-class matches when
called up for national duty in the wake of Pakistan's poor 2003 World
Cup. On the flat tracks of Sharjah, Gul performed admirably, maintaining
excellent discipline and getting appreciable outswing with the new
ball.
He
isn't express but bowls a very quick heavy ball and his exceptional
control and ability to extract seam movement marks him out. Further, his
height enables him to extract bounce on most surfaces and from his
natural back of a length, it is a useful trait. His first big moment in
his career came in the Lahore Test against India in 2003-04. Unfazed by a
daunting batting line-up, Gul tore through the Indian top order, moving
the ball both ways off the seam at a sharp pace. His 5 for 31 in the
first innings gave Pakistan the early initiative which they drove home
to win the Test.
Unfortunately,
that was his last cricket of any kind for over a year as he discovered
three stress fractures in his back immediately after the Test. The
injury would have ended many an international career, but Gul returned,
fitter and sharper than before in late 2005. He returned in a Pakistan
shirt against India in the ODI series at home in February 2006 and in
Sri Lanka showed further signs of rehabilitation by lasting both Tests
but it was really the second half of 2006, where he fully came of age.
Leading the attack against England and then the West Indies as
Pakistan's main bowlers suffered injuries, Gul stood tall, finishing
Pakistan's best bowler.
Since
then, as Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar have floundered, Gul has
become Pakistan's spearhead and one of the best fast bowlers in the
world. He is smart enough and good enough to succeed in all three
formats and 2009 proved it: he put together a patch of wicket-taking in
ODIs, on dead pitches in Tests (including a career-best six-wicket haul
against Sri Lanka) and established himself as the world's best Twenty20
bowler, coming on after the initial overs and firing in yorkers on
demand.
He
had hinted at that by being leading wicket-taker in the 2007 World
Twenty20; over the next two years he impressed wherever he went, in the
IPL for the Kolkatta Knight Riders and in Australia's domestic Twenty20
tournament. Confirmation came on the grandest stage: having poleaxed
Australia in a T20I in Dubai with 4-8, he was the best bowler and
leading wicket-taker as Pakistan won the second World Twenty20 in
England. The highlight was 5-6 against New Zealand, the highest quality
exhibition of yorker bowling. He is not a one-format pony, however, and
will remain a crucial cog in Pakistan's attack across all formats.
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Nasir Jamshed 
