June 16, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-us-Sani 11, 1429

LAHORE, June 15: Umar Gul, whose four wickets in the final of the tri-series against India in Dhaka helped Pakistan lift the title, said that the pleasurable victory was the result of team effort where the toss too had a vital role.

The medium-pacer was talking to Dawn after reaching here from Bangladesh on Sunday.

Umar, who remained the top bowler from Pakistan with nine wickets in the series, said it was a marvellous final in which every player contributed his share as the team managed to recover from a demoralising record 140-run defeat in their last match, only days before, to win the final by 25 runs.

“Recovering from a demoralising situation in such a short period of time is a significant aspect and shows the team’s fighting spirit,” Umar, a veteran of 46 ODIs, said.

“Being aware of the feelings of the people back in Pakistan, every player in the squad was under tremendous pressure due to the earlier defeat but we all took it in a positive manner and were mentally prepared to give it our best shot while leaving the results on the Almighty,” he said.

The toss too, according to Umar, played a favourable role in Pakistan’s win as bowling under the hot and humid conditions during the day would have proved challenging as had been seen with the other teams too during the tournament.

This was also Umar’s first experience of bowling on a black pitch.

“I had not seen a black pitch before. But it gave a lot of help to the bowler in swinging the ball, especially in the later stages of the innings when the ball also looked black,” he said.

Of the atmosphere at the ground, Umar said that the crowd was sporting and cheered both teams.

“But, I believe 60 per cent of the crowd was backing Pakistan and 40 per cent was with the Indians,” he said.

To a question about his fitness, Umar said that he felt quite fit and was thankful to God for not experiencing any back pain.

Umar’s back problem, according to his doctors, would haunt him off and on and the only solution to it was to refrain from playing whenever the pain occurred.

Salman Butt, who like Younis Khan hit a century in the final, Kamran Akmal, vice-captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf also arrived here from Bangladesh on Sunday.