IPL 2022: Umran Malik has picked 21 wickets in 13 matches so far this season.© BCCI/IPL
Umran Malik has been one of the standouts in the ongoing IPL 2022 season. The tearaway pacer has made life very difficult for the opposition batters, consistently flummoxing them with sheer speed. Umran Malik’s performances in IPL 2022 has led to calls for him to be fast-tracked into the Indian team. The youngster has been on fire for SunRisers Hyderabad, taking 21 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 20. SRH batting coach and cricket legend Brian Lara backed Umran Malik to soon play international cricket. He also said that the Indian reminds him a lot of West Indies pacer Fidel Edwards.
“Umran Malik reminds me a lot about Fidel Edwards when he first started, a lot of pace and I hope that he understands it as he goes into international cricket, which I think he’ll eventually play,” Lara said on ‘Cricket Live’ on Star Sports.
After being retained by SRH, the 22-year-old’s rise has been meteoric. Former India coach Ravi Shastri, speaking on ESPNCricinfo’s ‘Time-Out’, said that Umran Malik should be kept around the main Indian team so that he can learn from like of Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah.
Promoted
“(BCCI) Central contract straightaway. Don’t let him float around, keep him in the mix with the main players. Then he learns by being around the Shamis and Bumrahs and see the way they train, see the way they manage their workload. Of course, the team management and support staff will be there. But don’t let him go astray. Keep him in the mix,” said Shastri.
“I think he’ll get better and better. You see his bowling, once he takes a wicket. Look at the lines he starts bowling as opposed when he is not getting a wicket. That’s when he struggles, his lines are all over the place. You don’t want him to cut down on pace. The last thing you’d want to tell him is while looking for control you cut down on pace. What you want him to do is get his lines right. If he can attack the stumps by constantly varying his length, he will trouble anyone. And he can really rattle a new guy coming in because he’s got the pace, he can keep the bloke on his toes but it’s that line if he can hit the channel without reducing his pace, it’ll make a huge difference,” he added.
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