Pakistan pacer Umar Gul has announced he is retiring from all forms of cricket after his domestic team Balochistan failed to make the semifinals of the ongoing National T20 Cup.
Gul thus brought an end to a 17-year international career that began with an ODI against Zimbabwe in April 2003.
He played 47 Tests, 130 ODIs and 60 T20Is and took a combined 427 wickets across formats.
“It has been an honour to represent my club, city, province and country at various levels for two decades,” Gul said after the Balochistan were eliminated from the semifinal race. “I have thoroughly enjoyed my cricket, which has taught me the values of hard work, respect, commitment and determination. During this journey, I have had the pleasure of meeting numerous people who have helped and supported me in some way. I want to thank all those people as well as my teammates and peers for their support.”
“I owe a big thank you to the fans who supported me throughout my journey. They have been an inspiration, especially at times when the going was not great. Lastly, I thank my family for standing firmly behind me throughout my career and helping me to cherish my dreams of not only playing cricket but traveling across the country and globe. They have sacrificed a lot, while I too have missed their presence and company. I now look forward to spending valuable time with them but it will be difficult to stay away from cricket and I now look forward to giving back to the sport and the country that has made me one of the most fortunate people on the planet,” he added.
Gul, born in Peshawar, is regarded as one of the modern-day Pakistan fast bowling great. He was the leading wicket-taker at the inaugural ICC World T20 in 2007 as Pakistan made the final. And in 2009, as Pakistan became the T20 world champions, Gul again played a vital role finishing as the leading wicket-taker.