ABU DHABI // So quickly does Pakistan’s pace cycle move that it is difficult to keep up with who has gone, who has arrived and who is returning.
Back in March this year, Umar Gul injured his right knee during the second ODI in South Africa. It required surgery, and his ensuing rehabilitation resulted in a nine-month absence from international cricket. His return on Sunday night in Sharjah was triumphant, his three wickets crucial in setting up an easy win in the third ODI against Sri Lanka.
To say that Pakistan have missed him would not be the whole truth, though a bowler of his experience does make a difference.
In the interim, Pakistan have used 10 different fast bowlers in all formats, of which only Junaid Khan and Mohammad Irfan – before his injury – can be said to have been regular, steady picks.
Yet Pakistan have not especially struggled. Some bowlers have done well, some have not.
Pakistan have moved along regardless, mixing and matching a combination.
In the context of this series, and at a few moments during the year, they have definitely missed Gul’s death bowling. So his return, midway through the series after he was not originally selected, has been a boon.
“I was very happy that I put in the performance that I did in my comeback,” Gul said ahead of Wednesday’s fourth ODI in Abu Dhabi. “After nine months out, to play an international match and to perform like that and help win a match was good.”
Just his presence alone, as an experienced on-field sounding board to younger bowlers struggling at the end of an innings, will be an advantage.
“Any senior player should be looking to help out junior players,” he said. “Even now when I play domestically, Younis [Khan] might stand with me at mid-on, helping to read the batsman I am bowling to. I’m always happy to do it.”
He was down on his usual pace, though he said that was a deliberate plan, given both the conditions of the surface and his own calibration of how to ease his way back into international cricket.
Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lanka captain, was left in no doubt after the defeat of the part Gul had played in it.
“We all know that Umar Gul is a very good bowler, we know what kind of a bowler he is and we had to be a bit cautious early. But unfortunately, we lost a couple of wickets to him and he got us on the back foot early on.”
Sri Lanka’s bowlers have struggled to contain a previously inconsistent Pakistan batting line; in three innings they have conceded 322, 284 and 326. Their batting managed to chase well in the first two, but against an attack like Pakistan’s – with or without Gul – it will not happen every game.
“We have nothing to lose now,” Mathews said. “We have to just go there and express ourselves, stay positive, be confident and try and win. We all know that Pakistan has got good batters and also bowlers and they have a pretty well-balanced team. We need to play a lot of positive cricket and try and take them on.”
osamiuddin@thenational.ae