Umar Gul – veteran Pakistani on Saturday, announced his decision to bid farewell to cricket, effectively retiring from all formats of cricket.
Umar Gul played his last match in National T-20 Cup on Friday after his side, Balochistan was eliminated from the tournament after their loss to Southern Punjab team.
Gul – one of the leading stars in Pakistan’s T-20 World Cup triumph back in 2009. His career spanned across 20 years with 987 wickets in his name.
The veteran fast bowler took to social media to announce his retirement from all forms of cricket.
“With a very heavy heart and after a lot of thinking, i have decided to bid farewell to all formats of cricket after this National T20 Cup. I have always played for Pakistan with all my heart and 100 per cent of hard work,” he tweeted.
Umar played professional cricket in Australia, England, India and Sri Lanka, representing Western Australia, Gloucestershire, Sussex, Kolkata Knight Rider and Uva Next, respectively, while his domestic sides were HBL, Multan Sultans, North West Frontier Province (now known as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), PIA, Peshawar and Quetta Gladiators.
He played 125 first-class, 213 List-A and 167 T20 matches, in which he claimed 987 wickets. In his 237-match international career from 2003 to 2016, Umar secured 427 wickets.
Several former and current Pakistan Cricket Team players lauded Umar Gul for his successful career and expressed gratitude for his service and innumerable winning performances for the national side.