Srinagar: After being a little off-colour in the first few matches, J&K’s pace sensation Umran Malik on Friday bowled a dream spell against Kolkatta Knight Riders in the ongoing IPL 2022 to make Cricket World sing his songs.
In the sensational spell of fast bowling against KKR, Umran Malik took two wickets, giving away only 27 runs. The highlight of his fast and furious spell was rattling the stumps of KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer with a perfect yorker and then making West Indian all-rounder Andre Russel look awkward against the pace. Though Umran had been bowling extremely fast in previous matches as well on Friday he was at his best.
He went on to claim his straight fifth-fastest bowl of the tournament award and also was hailed by Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody as the game-changer of the match.
While everyone is praising the youngster, Former Team India coach Ravi Shastri has said that one can’t take his eyes off when Umran is bowling.
“Umran Malik makes sure you don’t take your eyes off the ball even when watching television. Exhilarating stuff,” Ravi Shastri Tweeted.
Former Pakistan cricket team captain Rashid Latif has suggested Indian cricket team management to include Umran in team India.
“After the IPL, they will start preparing for the international matches again. We have an Asia Cup and then the World Cup. They will have to try him (Umran) out in one of them. On the bouncy pitches of Australia, he can easily take out the Asian batters, whether they’re from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, or whoever India plays. Maybe the Aussies could play him,” Latif said on his official YouTube channel.
“He (Umran) could be a very useful bowler there. Because batsmen aren’t used to facing such fast bowling nowadays. Most fast bowlers have now dropped in in terms of speeds; you look at Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins… Shaheen Afridi swings the ball really well but he clocks in the range of 145 kph. Haris is there but his bouncer isn’t as effective as he is with his fuller length,” said Latif.
Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has also hailed talent of Umran.
“I know you don’t want to take any credit Dale. But for Umran, just standing next to you is a huge honour. He’s taking that inspiration from you before going out to play. He’s not just trying to win matches… he’s also looking to impress you. When he comes back to the dugout after the match and you give him a pat on the back, that’s going to be the biggest prize for him than Man of the Match awards,” said Gavaskar on Star Sports.
When Umran rattled the stumps of Shreyas Iyer with the Yorker, Sunrisers bowling coach and former South Africa speedster Dale Steyn were seen jumping in joy and enjoying the moment.
Speaking about the incident after the match, Dale Steyn said, “I’m not going to lie to you. Sometimes, the players’ genius comes out. Murali (Muttiah Muralitharan) actually said that he thinks the perfect ball to bowl right now is a yorker. Tom Moody (SRH head coach) and I turned around and said, ‘no, if he bowls a yorker now, he is going to be hit for a four-over his head’. He runs in, bowls a yorker, and knocks the stumps out of the ground! So, honestly, what do I know”.
Earlier Dale Steyn had termed Umran a talent for the future and had suggested him not to lose pace.
“Never lose pace. Anyone can bowl 130/135,” Steyn said about Umran Malik. “But yes, some variety in his skills will take him a long way forward,” Steyn had said on Twitter.
“Umran Malik will feature heavily in the future, as will Marco Jansen from an all-rounder point of view. (Sunrisers specific),” Steyn answered to a fan question on Twitter.
Speaking after Sunriser’s dominant 7-wicket win over KKR, head coach Tom Moody also explained Steyn and Muralitharan’s reactions to Umran’s wicket of Iyer.
“There is a lot of planning that goes on with any sort of match-up against any opponent. I think the emotion that was shown in the dug-out was about the joy for a young fast bowler getting such an important wicket for us,” Moody said.