Team India head coach Rahul Dravid said he was impressed to watch J&K speedster, Umran Malik, in the nets and hoped to see him in the longer format of the game.
“Yeah, it is exciting. He certainly bowled quick and with pace. Another thing that has been interesting for me watching the IPL from the outside is the number of Indian bowlers bowling fast. And obviously, being the coach of all three formats of the game, I would love to see that translated into the longer formats of the game. But it is brilliant in terms of watching Umran in the nets, you can see that he has got that pace,” said Dravid.
Dravid said Umran is learning and the more he is able to play, the better he is going to get. “From our, perspective, very happy to have someone like him in the mix. We have to see how much playing time we can give him, we need to be realistic, we have a large squad, and it is not possible to give everyone playing XI time. I think I am certainly someone who likes to have that consistency and let them feel settled in their positions,” he said.
Dravid noted that it would be an interesting time to see how much playing time we give to Umran. “We also have Arshdeep here who is brilliant as well. We have experience in the form of guys who have been with us before, Harshal, Bhuvi, and Avesh. There are certain things we need to look at but it is nice and exciting to have a couple of young guys in the mix as well. It has given an opportunity for us to broaden our pool and see what they can do,” he added.
Umran was quite a find this season. Jammu and Kashmiri pacer finished with 22 wickets for the season.
He became the youngest player to take 20-wickets in any IPL season. Umran Malik took his tally to 21 during a match-winning spell for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium. He broke Jasprit Bumrah’s 2017 record.
Umran Malik is 22 years and 176 days. Jasprit Bumrah was 23 years and 165 days old when he became the youngest bowler to pick up 20 wickets in IPL 2017. RP Singh was 23 years and 166 days old when he took 20 wickets in IPL 2009. Likewise, Pragyan Ojha was 23 years and 225 days old when he achieved the milestone in IPL 2010
J&K-born pacer Umran Malik broke another IPL record after bowling a maiden 20th over and picking up three wickets against Punjab Kings.
Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad player became only fourth bowler in IPL history to bowl a maiden 20th over. Irfan Pathan, Lasith Malinga, and Jaydev Unadkat had achieved the feat.
Malik, who Sunrisers Hyderabad retained for IPL 2022, is already one of the fastest bowlers in India. However, though he has sent down deliveries over 150kmph this season, the Jammu and Kashmir player has picked up only three wickets this season in four matches, conceding at 10.42 runs an over.
SRH retained him for Rs 4 crore along with captain Kane Williamson and all-rounder Abdul Samad, also from Jammu and Kashmir.
