Photo Credit: Afghanistan Cricket Board
Former Pakistan middle-order batter Younus Khan and right-arm fast bowler Umar Gul have been named as the batting and bowling consultants of our national men’s cricket team respectively for the UAE tour. Both will join the team during the ongoing training and preparatory camp in the United Arab Emirates as the team gears up for its forthcoming international cricketing assignments.
Younis Khan finished his international career having a test average of over 50 (52.05), scoring over 10 thousands runs, with 34 hundreds (a triple hundred & 6 double hundreds) and 33 fifties to his name in 118 test matches he has played for his country. He has also represented Pakistan in 265 One Day Internationals (ODIs) from Feb 2000 to Nov 2015, where he scored 7249 runs at 31.24 with 7 centuries and 48 half-centuries to his name. As a captain, he has enjoyed the success of taking Pakistan to the T20 World Cup glory in 2009.
However, Umar Gul has played 237 international matches for Pakistan in which he has 427 scalps to his name and is considered as one of the most successful fast bowlers in the history of Pakistan Cricket (specically in T20Is).
After announcing retirement from all forms of the game in 2020, Gul took to the coaching roles in different levels, He has been the bowling coach for the Quetta Gladiators in PSL, and has also accompanied the coaching staff in the Kashmir Premier League (KPL) and the Galle Gladiators team in the Lanka Premier League (LPL).
ACB CEO Mr. Naseeb Khan said: “The UAE camp is a great opportunity for the players to get adequate training in the relevant departments of the game and get fully prepared for the future competitions. Younis Khan and Omar Gul have rich experience of international cricket and I am sure they will help our boys overcome the concerns they have got in the batting and bowling departments”.
Afghanistan Cricket Board has recently named Graham Thorpe, a former English batter, as the head coach of the Senior Men’s team for the events ahead, who will, according to the agreement, join the team at the end of April.
