Brett Lee wants Umran Malik to use the new ball for SRH (Pic Credit: Sportzpics and AFP)
Brett Lee suggested that SRH should use Umran Malik in the powerplay as he has the ability to pick up some early wickets with his pace.
Veteran Australian fast bowler Brett Lee has expressed his displeasure over the handling of Umran Malik by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the current season of the Indian Premier League. Umran, who grabbed headlines for his pace last season, hasn’t been very effective with the ball so far in IPL 2023, picking up just 5 wickets in as many matches. The tear-jerking pacer is also scoring runs at an economy rate of 10.
The Jammu and Kashmir pacer was the highest wicket-taker for SRH last season, with 22 scalps under his kitty and was also named the Emerging Player.
SRH are currently placed at the bottom of the points table and have not been able to muster a collective effort on the field. They looked like a formidable pace bowling unit on paper but failed to show it on the field.
IPL 2023 Mark sheet: Check Team Standings, Team Points, Wins, Losses
Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar are the stand-out pacers for SRH with 7 scalps in their kitty. However, the economy rate has been a major concern for them in the fast bowling department, apart from Bhuvneshwar Kumar (7.54), other SRH pacers have an economy rate of over 9.5.
Answering a question from News18 CricketNext in a select media interaction, Brett Lee criticized Sunrisers Hyderabad for not using their bowlers in the right positions.
orange cap Holder IPL 2023: See full list here
The legendary Australian pacer suggested that the Orange Army should use Umran in the powerplay as he has the ability to pick up some early wickets with his pace.
“You mentioned Umran Malik. I think the thing about Sunrisers Hyderabad is that I don’t think they have used their bowlers in the right positions so I would love to see Umran Malik in the powerplay. I have bowled once in the powerplay and he gave away more than 20 runs but it was a one off affair. It is almost like telling a batsman that you have to bat but if you get a duck you will never bat again. Will not bat. You need to have faith and you need commitment to come through these guys. I always give a new ball to the fast bowler in IPL and give him the right area, make him run the old ball and Gets the confidence to bowl,” JioCinema IPL expert Lee replied to News18’s CricketNext query.
Interestingly, Umran has bowled just 16 overs in 6 matches, which means skipper Aiden Markam is not showing much faith in him as he hasn’t even bowled his full quota of overs.
purple cap Holder IPL 2023: See full list here
Lee, who himself was known for his pace, pointed out that Umran usually came to bowl after the powerplay which was not ideal for him as the batsmen were set in the middle as the ball got old.
“At the moment, SRH are using other bowlers early and using someone like Umran Malik in the 8th or 9th over. So usually the batsmen are settled with 70/0 or 80/0 on the board and that’s when Umran Malik bowls with the batsmen with an old ball,” Lee said.
Umran was also dropped from the SRH XI for the Mumbai Indians clash which might have dented his confidence a bit.
Lee suggested that SRH should give Umran a chance to bowl in the powerplay as many batsmen would not want to face the first over with the new ball.
“My advice would be to bring him back into the team, give him a few matches with the new ball and if he misses there, he misses it. I promise you that if the confidence of the captain is there then he has a good chance of success because he is bowling with the new ball. There are a lot of batsmen if you ask them whether they will face Malik in the 9th over or in the first over, I can promise you they will face Malik when the ball is old,” concluded Lee.
get the latest cricket news, ipl 2023 live score, orange cap And purple cap holder details here
