Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) young fast bowler Umran Malik has lit up the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 with his sheer pace. Not only the fans but the experts of the game are amazed by his talent. In the clash against Gujarat Titans on Wednesday night, he produced yet another remarkable bowling spell, registering his best bowling figures – 5 for 25 – in the tournament. Umran bagged his maiden five-wicket haul in IPL; four out of his five victims were clean bowled.
The 22-year-old didn’t have a great start to IPL 2022 but since picking 2/27 against Kolkata Knight Riders, the speedster from Kashmir has been on an upswing in the tournament. After the memorable fifer, he jumped to the second spot on the list of highest wicket-takers of this season, on par with his Hyderabad team-mate and left-arm pacer T Natarajan.
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Former England off-spinner Graeme Swann has heaped massive praise on the youngster. In a conversation with cricket.com he said if he were to pick India’s squad for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia later in the year, he would undoubtedly include Umran Malik.
“Without a doubt, I will take Umran to Australia. Without a doubt! India have everything but they don’t have a pace bowler. Bumrah is quick but he isn’t express like Umran. Get him involved as soon as possible. He is easily good for international cricket,” Swann was quoted as saying by cricket.com.
“Umran has been quick. At the start of the IPL, he was quick but going for a few runs. When I heard Dale Steyn say ‘I have asked him to bowl first, that is his weapon’, I felt like cheering. That was amazing,” he added.
What impressed Swann the most was the manner in which Malik bounced out Hardik Pandya with a short ball.
“He (Umran) is that quick, he is not wild. He is very straight but he is so quick that he can get away with it. The first delivery was absolute fire, Hardik was stunned. He then bowled a rapid short delivery and got Hardik out. The quicker he bowled, he was just amazing,” Swann said.
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Though menacing and exciting to see, tearaway quicks have the tendency to get injured often. But Swann thinks that making Malik play in only the shortest format of the game won’t do any harm.
“No, injuries won’t hurt him. Brett Lee, Shoaib Akhtar, Jofra Archer, as a fast bowler, of course you break down but Umran bowls only in T20s. It is four overs of maximum effort, I think it is the ideal number of overs for the pacer, just bowl fast and don’t think. Don’t break him in other formats, just play him in T20s,” Swann further stated.
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