Former Pakistan fast bowler Umar Gul has defended his comments after Pakistan’s defeat to England in the first Test at Headingley, in which he blamed cold weather for the performance of the side’s fast bowlers. Gul, who as assistant coach was among the casualties of Pakistan Cricket Board’s extraordinary purge after they lost the second Test at Lord’s, has now defended those comments, which reportedly became a reason for his sacking, after it was slammed by the team’s former head coach Jason Gillespie.

Gul’s reaction came in a post on X that he made in reply to a clip from the podcast Fast Bowling Cartel that is hosted by former Australia fast bowlers Gillespie, Damien Fleming and Glenn McGrath. Gillespie read out Gul’s comments before saying: “Give me a spell, Umar. Not surprised you’re not bowling coach anymore, champ. How ridiculous is that?” Gillespie said amid laughter from Fleming and McGrath.

“I wasn’t making excuses for the weather,” said Gul in his reply. “If you heard the full interview, I clearly mentioned that the conditions were cold and I felt our bowlers looked a bit stiff, which affected their ability to execute their bowling plans properly.”

Gul further said that he was sure that the pacers would acclimatise better in time for the second Test in Lord’s and said that, according to him, they did put up a better show. “I’m sure they’ll acclimatise to the conditions before the Lord’s Test and perform much better. And if you watched the match closely, our bowlers actually did a good job in the conditions,” he said.

Gul was assistant coach to Sarfaraz Ahmed and both were sacked, along with an incredible seven players. Among them were senior pros Imam-ul-Haq, who faced accusations of faking an injury during the Lord’s Test, Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha, who captained Pakistan in the first Test.