Shahid Afridi (right) and Umar Gul during the Pakistan cricket team’s training camp at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore yesterday. Gul, who was forced out of action for nearly eight months due to a knee surgery, has only recently joined the team. (AFP)
Pakistan, stung by injuries to key bowlers, will soon implement a rotation policy for their pacemen to prolong their careers, the team’s bowling coach Mohamed Akram said.
“We have spoken about it and I have discussed it with the two captains and coaches and it is something we will implementing soon,” Akram told reporters yesterday.
Pakistan have suffered a spate of injuries to their bowlers including top fast bowlers Umar Gul and Mohamed Irfan.
The latter has also been ruled out of the forthcoming Asia Cup and World T20 tournaments in Bangladesh.
“Obviously in our set-up every captain wants to field his strongest bowling line up in every match,” he said. “But the realisation is there now that with the amount of matches being played these days bowlers need to be nursed and handled with care.”
Akram, himself a former Test fast bowler, said that the loss of Irfan had been a big setback as had been Gul’s ouster from cricket for nearly eight months due to a knee surgery.
“We are confident about having a rotation policy because we now have good back-up talent coming up and our spinners are world class,” he said.