Umar Gul ready for England challenge

Pakistan strike bowler, Umar Gul is geared up for the high profile Test series against England, starting from January 17.

Senior most fast bowler in the present squad, the 27-year-old is leading Pakistan’s pace attack after the exclusion of Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif due to their involvement in the Spot-fixing scam.

The Poms are currently the top Test side, and Gul is well aware of the England’s strength. Despite rating the Englishmen as a powerful opposition, Gul is confident about his team’s chances to win the battle.

He insisted that the recent victories against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have boosted the players’ confident, and the Men in Green will deliver their best in the crucial competition.

"No doubt England is a very good team and they are number one in Tests. We are also playing good cricket and are ready for any challenge they pose," said Gul on Thursday.

"There is no substitute to doing well and because we have done well in the last one year our morale is very high and the conditions will also help us as we are playing here for three years now," shared Gul of the UAE conditions.

Gul will be Pakistan’s key quick bowler with the new ball. The visitors have two experienced players, Alastair Coo and Andrew Strauss, at the top of order followed by Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen.

Therefore, a huge responsibility rests on Gul shoulders, and the Peshawar-born seamer has expressed his readiness for the big challenge.

"I take every series as a challenge no matter who we play, I try my level best and since England is a top team you try to do well from inside and know that a performance against a top team is more noted and appreciated," he uttered.

"No doubt Strauss and Cook give them head start and will be a big challenge but not only the openers, their whole batting is in our sights and we need to get 20 wickets in the match to win it," added the right-arm paceman who has scalped 146 wickets so far
in his 40-Test-old career.

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Posted by Rana Nasir Ghafoor on Jan 13 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry