New Delhi: The Pakistani cricket team has been going through a plethora of changes, ever since they suffered an early exit from the ICC World Cup 2023, in India.
The latest change in their team is the appointment of two new bowling coaches, in form of former Pakistani fast bowler Umar Gul and former Pakistani spinner Saeed Ajmal. PCB (Pakistani Cricket Board), made the decision public through their post on their X (Formerly known as Twitter) page, on Tuesday.
🚨 Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal have been appointed as the Fast Bowling and Spin Bowling Coaches, respectively, for the Pakistan Men’s Team
Read more ➡️ https://t.co/0rPdPWlvGm pic.twitter.com/FB4sak7sFW
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) November 21, 2023
The post from PCB read, “Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal have been appointed as the Fast Bowling and Spin Bowling Coaches, respectively, for the Pakistan Men’s Team.”
Morne Morkel has resign as Pakistan bowling coach. pic.twitter.com/LJYAotKNux
— Fatima (@fatimamalik73) November 13, 2023
The decision was taken after their former bowling coach, Morne Morkel, resigned from his position of the Pakistani team’s bowling coach, six weeks prior to his contract expiration after Pakistan’s out-of-sync bowling in the World Cup 2023.
Complete makeover
The first paper of resignation was turned in by the Pakistani Cricket Team’s chief selector, Inzamam-ul-Haq. Inzamam was accused of selecting team members on personal grounds, and after the team suffered back-to-back losses in the tournament. Inzamam turned in his resignation letter to PCB, mid-tournament.
Wahab Riaz has been appointed as the chief selector of the Pakistani cricket team by PCB.
Chief selector Wahab Riaz announces Pakistan squad for Australia series #AUSvPAK | #BackTheBoysInGreen https://t.co/9kR7vh1ofZ
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) November 20, 2023
After Inzamam and Morne, the third name on the list was of their captain, Babar Azam, who stepped down from the captain’s chair, in all the three formats.
— Babar Azam (@babarazam258) November 15, 2023
Babar Azam, shared a post on his X (Formerly known as Twitter) page, sharing the information about his resignation and his journey while leading his national side.
Presenting our captains 🇵🇰@shani_official has been appointed Test captain while @iShaheenAfridi will lead the T20I side. pic.twitter.com/wPSebUB60m
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) November 15, 2023
Pakistan pace spearhead was named as the T-20i captain, while Saud Shakeel was named as the Test captain, by PCB later.
Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal record
Umar Gul, who has been appointed as the fast bowling coach of the team, has played 47 Tests. 130 ODI and 60 T20Is for Pakistan, picking 163, 179 and 85 wickets respectively. He is considered to be one of the best fast bowlers to ever play for Pakistan, and PCB hopes that he will repeat his success as a coach, too.
The spin bowling coach, Seed Ajmal, is considered as on the greatest ever to play cricket and has picked up 178, 184 and 85 wickets in 35 tests, 113 ODI and 64 T20I matches, respectively. PCB would hope that Ajmal will finally become the answer to their increasing spin bowling headache day by day.
