Kamran Akmal believes if Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer Umran Malik was a Pakistani, he would have already played international cricket. The 40-year-old also said the Indian selectors will have a headache trying to pick a squad with so many talented pacers in contention.
Malik was one of the retained players of SRH ahead of the 2022 mega auction and has been bowling thunderbolts throughout the season in Indian Premier League 2022. He has snared 15 wickets in 11 matches, albeit at a high economy rate.
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“If he was in Pakistan, maybe he would have played international cricket. His economy is high, but he is a strike bowler. After every match, his speed chart comes where he clocks around 155 km/h and it’s not going down. It’s a good competition in the Indian team,”
Akmal was quoted as per Paktv.tv.
Malik has bowled consistently fast, clicking 150-155kmph on a regular basis and has the fastest delivery to his credit, clocking 157kmph. Pakistan’s wicketkeeper batter Akmal said India now has a plethora of rapid pacers and the competition is so intense, the Indian selectors have their task cut out.
The 40-year-old, who was part of the Rajasthan Royals franchise back in 2008, thinks Indian cricket showed maturity in giving Malik an entire season to work and improve. He added that even though the pacer concedes runs at high economy, he gets important wickets and makes an impact on the game.
“Last season he played only one or two games. But Indian cricket showed a lot of maturity by giving Malik a chance to play in an entire IPL season. Brett Lee and Shoaib (Akhtar) bhai were also expensive, but they picked up wickets and that’s how strike bowlers should be,”
he added.
