Umar Gul: “If you look at his performance in the PSL, you cannot disregard his skills”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Umar Gul sees Pakistan fast bowler Ihsanullah making a big impact in the future and said people “cannot disregard his skills.”
The 20-year-old rose to prominence during the 2023 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he represented the Multan Sultans and was the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament.
In the 12 matches he played, he claimed 22 wickets at an average of 15.77 and an economy rate of 7.59.
Ihsanullah’s brilliant campaign in PSL 8 led to him getting selected in the Pakistan team and he has since played four T20Is, where he has taken six wickets at an average of 18 and an economy rate of 7.28.
He also made his ODI debut against New Zealand in April 2023, but went wicketless in that match.
Considering the way the Matta native has performed, especially in the PSL, Gul acknowledged that he has the potential to go on and achieve big things.
“If you look at his performance in the PSL, you cannot disregard his skills,” he told Cricket Pakistan.
Ihsanullah wasn’t picked for Pakistan’s Test series against Sri Lanka or their ODI series against Afghanistan, which the men in green won 2-0 and 3-0 respectively.
He also wasn’t in the squad for the Asia Cup, where Pakistan began with a 238-run win over Nepal before sharing one point apiece with India as their match was rained off.
Even though this occurred, the men in green progressed to the Super Fours and went on to crush Bangladesh by seven wickets.
However, things fell apart for them from this point on as they suffered a 228-run drubbing at the hands of India.
Despite this, Pakistan still had a chance to make it to the Asia Cup final, but couldn’t do so as they lost to Sri Lanka by two wickets via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 Asia Cup:Â Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zaman Khan.
Travelling reserve: Tayyab Tahir