Imran Khan on Umar Gul: “I started training with him, so my action was automatically remodelled like him”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan speedster Imran Khan has revealed that he automatically started bowling like Umar Gul when he began training with the former fast bowler.
Imran admitted that he “thought of him as my idol” and enjoyed bowling with him in the nets.
In addition to Gul, Imran also recalled bowling together with Fazl-e-Akbar and Riaz Afridi, who is the older brother of Pakistan pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi.
“When I first came from Dir, my action was different. There was nobody there to tell me about my leg movement, head falling, and hand movement. But I used to bowl fast. When I came to Peshawar in the academy, I was told about these things,” Imran told PakPassion.
“I started bowling in the nets with bowlers like Fazl-e-Akbar, Umar Gul and Riaz Afridi. When Umar bhai came, I looked up to him and thought of him as my idol. I started my net sessions just after his ended when he performed in South Africa. He came back and gifted me a pair of shoes and I started training with him, so my action was automatically remodelled like him.”
The Pakistan team recently featured in the 2024 T20 World Cup and lost to the United States of America and India before fighting back to take down Canada and Ireland.
Even though they ended the group stage on a high, it wasn’t enough to get them through to the Super Eights.
Pakistan Squad for 2024 T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
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