Lahore, March 27: Umar Gul’s place in Pakistan’s playing XI for the World Twenty20 is under threat and captain Shahid Afridi made it clear that the pacer will have to earn his place in the side as not many places are up for grabs.
Gul was the leading wicket-taker in the inaugural edition of the World Twenty20 in South Africa and then followed it with another brilliant performance during Pakistan’s World Cup triumph in England last year.
But his form has deteriorated considerably since then and Afridi said there are very little posibilities of Pakistan playing with three pacers, so Gul will have to prove himslef to regain his place.
”The thing is that we might not play with three regular fast bowlers in the Twenty20 World Cup,” said Afridi. ”Say if we go for Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir, who are our best bowlers at the moment then it would be tough for Gul to find a place in the playing eleven. ”Because there is a big possibility that we will just play with two specialist fast bowlers and then bring in Abdul Razzaq as first change,” Afridi was quoted as saying by ‘The News’.
The all-rounder added that there were not serious flaws that can not be mended by Gul and was confident that the paceman would regain his form in time.
”I’ve talked to him recently about his form and believe that it’s nothing serious,” Afridi said.
”I’m confident that with some rest that will be followed by a series of training sessions, he should regain his form,” he added.
But Afridi did admit that Gul will get enough opportunity to prove that he can once again give his best in the World Twenty20 championship. ”He (Gul) has been our top performer and it would be great if he can once again give similar performances in the West Indies.
”It’s a very tough assignment and the fact that we just have around five players who are really experienced would mean that they will have to deliver. You can’t put too much pressure on the youngsters.”
———Agencies