Sunil Gavaskar was elated seeing an Indian pace bowler rattle the stumps at incredible consistency. The batting great was keeping a constant eye on the speed gun every time Umran Malik ran in and jolted the Gujarat Titans batters in their IPL 2022 match against SunRisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
The legendary batter, who has faced chin music from the mighty West Indies quartet during his heyday, was seemingly delighted to see Umran Malik clocking in excess of 150 kph. The 22-year-old fast bowler from Srinagar picked up his maiden 5-wicket haul and scripted a bit of IPL history as well, the first bowler to pick up the first 5 five wickets of an innings.
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There was one thunderbolt after another. Umran rattled Shubman Gill’s stumps. He welcomed Hardik Pandya, the Gujarat Titans, captain with a bouncer that crashed into the all-rounder’s shoulders. In his next over, he sent Hardik walking back with a well-directed bouncer. He hurled an unplayable yorker to send bak a well-set Wriddhiman Saha in his 2nd spell.
Umran completed his 5-wicket haul, sending David Miller and Abhinav Manohar’s stumps for a walk in his final over. Gavaskar was screaming in delight on-air and former England captain Kevin Pietersen revealed how the India legend reacted to the 5-wicket haul.
“I think what was more exciting than these 5 wickets is the way Sunny (Gavsakar) was celebrating in the commentary box when he picked up his 5-wicket haul. Punching the ceiling, jumping and screaming. I think Sunny did that because how often have we seen India producing the fastest bowler in world cricket? You can see by the speeds he is delivering and the accuracy that you must be loving,” Pietersen told Star Sports.
Despite Umran Malik finishing with figures of 5/25 in a spell of serious pace-bowling, Gujarat Titans successfully chased down 196thanks to Wriddhiman Saha’s blistering 68 and stunning cameos from Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan at the death.
However, Umran Malik was adjudged the Man of the Match for his spell that delighted cricket lovers on Wednesday.
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Heaping praise on Umran’s consistency, Gavaskar said: “The accuracy. Look speed is there but when you bowl at the speed, the accuracy sort of suffers, you tend to spray the ball here, spray the ball there. But he is all the time there, at the stumps.”
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Umran Malik is among the top 5 in the wicket-takers’ list with 15 wickets in 8 matches and it’s not surprising that there are calls to include him in the Indian squad.
While he impressed with his raw pace last season and got retained by SunRisers Hyderabad for Rs 4 crore, Umran has been able to successfully add control to his arsenal. The young pacer is enjoying the opportunity to work with Dale Steyn, the SRH bowling coach who is inturn enjoying the Umran’s exploits on the field.
Stressing that it’s time for Umran to be traveling to England along with the India squad for their upcoming tour in June, Gavaskar added: “I think he might not play in the XI because India have got Shami, Bumrah, Siraj and Umesh. But just traveling with this group, sharing the dressing room with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, look what it’s going to happen to him. Take him to England for the one-off Test and the limited-overs.”
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