Umar Gul: “I don’t agree with Shadab. I don’t think he had a serious injury”
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Newly-appointed Pakistan fast bowling coach Umar Gul believes spinner Shadab Khan exaggerated the severity of the injury he suffered against South Africa in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Shadab appeared to hit his head on the ground while fielding during the match and after getting medical attention, he left the field.
However, he later returned before Usama Mir officially replaced him as a concussion substitute.
Gul was not fully convinced that Shadab’s injury was as serious as he claimed and felt that he should have been on the field to try and help Pakistan win the match.
“We don’t know what kind of injury he has sustained, but questions arise when you fall, claim to have a concussion, escape from the team, and go outside. The physio checks you, and then after a while, you come out. There, you chat with people and then leave,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
“When the match gets tight, and you realise it is going in our favour, you sit outside in the dugout, cheering. It means you’ve made an excuse; you’ve saved yourself. So people will definitely question it.
“It was an important game and as a senior, you had to be there on the pitch. There are many examples when players have continued to play in spite of broken hands as they chose to fight for the sake of the team. I don’t agree with Shadab. I don’t think he had a serious injury.”
In the World Cup, Shadab was disastrous with the ball as he finished with two wickets in six matches at an average of 118.50 and an economy rate of 6.23.
Pakistan started off by beating the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before losing to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they bounced back to take down Bangladesh and New Zealand, they failed to advance to the semi-finals.
The men in green concluded their campaign on a low as England demolished them by 93 runs.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a three-match Test series against Australia, but Shadab was not selected for the upcoming tour.
The first Test between Pakistan and Australia will get underway on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi
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