Karachi: Senior Pakistan paceman Umar Gul couldn't to impress the national selectors in his comeback bid after he failed a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy on Monday.
Gul, who last played for Pakistan in South Africa earlier this year, has undergone a knee surgery in Melbourne in May and is yet to convince the selectors he is ready for a comeback to the national team.
“Pakistan captains, Misbah-ul-Haq and Muhammad Hafeez had conveyed to the selectors they wanted Gul back in the national side for the Sri Lanka series,” one reliable source told PTI.
“Because of this the selectors decided to have a fitness test for Gul at the NCA, where he bowled in the nets but apparently he failed to convince the selectors he had made a 100 per cent recovery from his operation and was fully match fit for international cricket,” the source said.
Though Gul has resumed playing cricket in the domestic competitions but so far in the few appearances he has made he has failed to come out with a big performance.
Another source said that the medical panel of the board would reassess the rehabilitation process for Gul and he might have to undergo another fitness test soon.
“The selectors have noted that Gul has so far played in only a couple of T20 and one-day matches for Habib bank in domestic cricket and is yet to be tested in a first class match,” the source said.
Gul, 29, has taken 163 Test, 161 ODI and 74 T20 wickets in his international career.
