Umran Malik, the Jammu and Kashmir pacer, came into the limelight in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season. He was brilliant in the last IPL season as well, claiming 22 wickets for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Notably, after his impressive spell in the T20 format he got an India call-up last year and made his debut against Ireland.
Veteran India fast bowler Ishant Sharma has some advice for young pacer Malik. He said that Malik has to concentrate more on bowling fast if has the caliber to bowl 150-160 kmph.
“He shouldn’t worry about where the deliveries land. With experience, he will understand. So if he can bowl at 150 or 160, he should concentrate only on that. He should just back himself and should not worry about leaking runs. What is the use of bowling that fast if the batters don’t end up closing their eyes in fear? So, someone should tell him and give him the confidence that you have to bowl so fast that batters fail to see it,” Ishant said during an interaction on the Cricbuzz show ‘Rise Of New India’.
Dinesh Karthik opens up on chances to Umran Malik to get into World Cup 2023 squad
“Umran Malik was the find of the last IPL when it comes to fast bowling for sure. What he brought to the table was extreme pace which India have never had. What I really liked about him is that he has really worked on his consistency in length because when you bowl that fast it becomes really difficult to be consistent with length,” said Karthik.
“He has also been someone who has bowled through the middle of the innings a lot more. The more he bowls in the powerplay and the death, it increases his chance of being in the 2023 World Cup team. And I think he has done that in the T20s. The key is how he is going to handled. The captain is going to be very very important for him. He is raw compared to other bowlers and doesn’t have that knowledge compared to other bowlers so the captain will play a huge role on how he is managed,” he added.
