Former India head coach Ravi Shastri feels that Umran Malik, who has sizzled in the ongoing IPl 2022 with his searing pace, can be an asset for India in Test cricket.
Malik has been one of the finds of the IPL. Having already grabbed headlines during the three outings he played during his maiden stint last year, he has gone even better in 2022, bamboozling the best of batters with his raw pace.
The 22-year-old has already clocked the fastest ball of the season at 157 kmph, and has been crossing the 150-plus mark consistently. He’s been rewarded with success in the wickets column too, with 21 scalps from 13 outings for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, which currently places him fourth in the Purple Cap race.
Ravi Shastri, the former India head coach, feels that the speedster should be brought into international consideration right away, so that he can learn from the best in business like spearheads Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.
“Central contract straightway. And keep him in the mix, don’t let him float around. Keep him in the mix with the main players and then he learns by seeing (and) being around with the Shamis and the Bumrahs, and see the way they train, see the way they manage their workload.
Of course, there’ll be the team management there, support staff that’ll help him do that, but don’t let him stray at the moment. Get him into the mix, and keep him there and groom him.”
Shastri said on ESPNcricinfo’s ‘T20 Time Out’.
Umran has had ups and downs in the season thus far. He was on the expensive side in each of his first four outings, before returning 2/27, 4/28, 1/13 and 5/25 in his next four outings. He went wicketless in the next three games while conceding at more than 12 an over, before redeeming himself with successive three-wicket hauls.
His pacy yorker which rattled Shreyas Iyer’s stumps earlier in the season has been one of the major highlights, one which even got SRH fast-bowling coach Dale Steyn on his feet. Jos Buttler, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, David Miller and Ishan Kishan have been some of his other top victims.
Shastri felt that the Srinagar-born will only get better with experience, and that he need not compromise on his pace for success.
“He’ll get better and better. You see his bowling once he takes a wicket. Look at the lines he starts bowling as opposed to when he has not got a wicket – that’s when he is trying everything, his lines are all over the place. You don’t want him to cut down on pace.
The last thing you would tell him looking for control, cut down on pace. What you want him to do is get his lines right: if he can bowl that stump line, attack the stumps on a constant basis, varying his lengths, he will trouble him.
SRH will take on Punjab Kings in their final league encounter at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, May 22. A win will keep them in contention for a playoffs spot, should the other results go their way.
It remains to be seen if Umran does get a maiden international call-up for India’s upcoming five-match T20I series at home, beginning June 9 in Delhi.
