The swing and seam merchant

Something about Umar Gul, as he sliced through India at Lahore in April 2004, was inescapably boyish. It wasn't just his years, or that he excitably plucked out a stump when India were bowled out in the second innings and forgot that Pakistan still had a target, albeit paltry, to chase. It helped the image but primarily it appeared that way because it was wholly unexpected; he was a boy among men (only his fifth Test), playing support to Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami, and his victims - Tendulkar, Dravid, Sehwag and Laxman - were as big as they got.

When he bowled Pakistan to a nine-wicket win against West Indies, at Lahore again this week, a very different impression settled on the watchers. It was still only his 12th Test, thanks to a severe back injury, but visibly the coltishness had shed itself.

More muscle was apparent on a once gawky frame, the action more fluid than it was while none of the sharp pace that he possessed had been lost. Actually, pace was never his thing; before Mohammad Asif crashed the party with the 'Glenn McGrath impersonation', Gul was citing ol' pidge as a role model. He's more of the surprising lift and seam guy with a nice line and reverse swing when conditions allow. And if there's green in them pitches, beware.

The conditions at the Gaddafi Stadium this week were initially ideal, though Gul's first spell was anything but. He lucked out on Darren Ganga chasing a wide one but conceded over five an over in eight overs till lunch. And immediately after, he leaked three fours to Brian Lara and Dave Mohammed in his first over. Not for the first time in his career though he revealed an ability even Mastercard couldn't buy: the perfect delivery in the middle of an ordinary spell to a great batsman.

The ball pitched on middle, Lara shaped to play to the leg side, then squared up as the ball darted away, and was simultaneously good and unfortunate enough to edge the ball. In a different way, it was as good as the fast leg-break with which Gul had bowled VVS Laxman in his breakthrough Test. Gul soon cleaned up the tail and Fidel Edwards' scalp was his 50th in Tests and it also completed his third five-wicket haul.

He was better the second time round. Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan were added to his growing list of high-profile top-order victims when they were beaten by sharply seaming deliveries. Even when Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Lara were batting unperturbed through the afternoon, Gul teased the former relentlessly with the old ball, seducing him forward each time with the angle from round the wicket and beating him. Two more wickets were enough for a second Man-of-the-Match award.

He is now, as Inzamam-ul-Haq said after the win, very much first-string. He has led the attack in every Test since his return earlier this year in Sri Lanka, but the belief then was that he was filling in for Shoaib and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan who were injured, and Mohammad Sami, who had fallen out of favour. That Gul was not just a replacement became ever more apparent as the subsequent tour of England progressed and he ended it as Pakistan's best bowler. The venue and format then changed for the Champions Trophy, but his performances did not.

He is now head honcho and if, until recently, Pakistan hoped for match-winning spells from Gul rather than expecting them the opposite is likely to be the case from here on.

What he said
"That was a very good feeling, a really wonderful moment. This was my first time bowling to him and after getting such a special wicket, I got a lot of confidence for the remainder of the spell." On dismissing Brian Lara

What they say
"He is a fantastic prospect and a really good seam bowler. He worked extremely hard to recover and modify his action slightly, which is never easy and just that he has come back from such a serious injury is remarkable enough." Aaqib Javed, former Pakistan fast bowler and junior coach.

What could have been?
He hails from Nawa-e-Killi, in the North West frontier province, the ground zero for Pakistan's squash dynasty - Jahangir, Jansher and the Khans are from nearby. However, Gul says that he "was never into squash despite the history of the area. It was always cricket."

He likes...
The Gaddafi Stadium. This was his third five-wicket haul at Lahore, following the one against India and also one against Bangladesh in an ODI in 2003.