Parvez Rasool was shocked when Umran Malik lashed out at KKR’s batsmen IPL Debuting with his quick pace, topping 150kmph on the speedometer and the original cricket icon of Jammu and Kashmir, the 21-year-old is confident that the 21-year-old is a derby race horse.
The numbers may be deceptive, but Rasool, the only cricketer from the region to play international cricket, has a good eye for talent and even he was stunned by the improvement shown by the 21-year-old Jammu boy.
Umran’s IPL debut against KKR on Sunday could find a place in Ripley’s ‘Believe it or Not’ as he clocked 151.03 kmph (93.84 mph), the most by an Indian this season. Fast delivery.
Furthermore, 11 of his 24 valid deliveries were above 145 kmph (90 mph) as Sunrisers Hyderabad made his IPL debut.
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“He’s a very talented guy. When I played him in the nets he was quick. He was very sharp (he was very quick) but it was on a different level.”
“He was hurling the batsmen at a really fast pace. I was very proud to see him hold on to such a big stage.”
Umran is not as strong as most of the fast bowlers but is strong. So, where does this speed come from?
“Look, I don’t think in his early years, he did formal coaching before joining the coaching camp of Zilla Sports Council. He used to play a lot of tennis ball matches for the rent of 500 or 1000 rupees.
“If you look at some of our best fast bowlers including Jasprit (Bumrah), they have all been tennis ball cricket products.
“The light weight of a tennis ball means that to generate momentum, you need that extra effort. This child developed strength and speed by playing the tennis ball game which he used to play in and around Jammu,” argued Rasool.
Rasool did not initially know Umran until he saw the boy with Abdul Samad (his teammate at SRH) in the J&K trap.
“He is very close to Samad. Samad took him to the state team nets. I think when he was at the Under-19 level, he had consistency issues and so I don’t think he played a lot of games in Cooch Behar or Vijay Merchant Trophy,” Rasool recalled.
“Even though then, he was very quick for 18 years and regularly bowled in the mid 140s. Facing him in the nets was not an easy task.
“However, he was picked for trial games last season where he troubled some of our top state team batsmen and we included him for the Mushtaq Ali Trophy,” Rasool said.
On his T20 debut, he scored 3/24 against Railways, which included the wicket of former India player Karn Sharma, who was beaten at a fast pace.
Rasool believes that the fire in him comes from the fact that he comes from a very humble background. His father has a small fruit shop in Gurjar Nagar area of Jammu.
“His family has had its share of financial struggles and it obviously inspired them to do well. But I would give a lot of credit to the Sunrisers Hyderabad management who have included him as a net bowler and certainly worked on his raw talent which shone through in the beginning of the IPL.
“He has definitely picked up pace by a yard or two and it is to the credit of the coaching staff of SRH,” Rasool said.
Sunrisers skipper Kane Williamson called Umran a “silver lining” and it was only possible to give him a chance as he is already out of contention.
“Umran is a special talent, one of the silver linings of where we are, which is certainly not desirable but we have been able to expose many young players.
“The talent in India is immense, so many young people are ready to go. It was great that Umran got a chance tonight,” Williamson said after the IPL match.
Rasool feels that Umran is far from a finished product and needs to play a lot more matches in domestic cricket as he has the potential to be a huge asset to any team.
“He bowls at 150 clicks and if he can consistently get a swing (inswing or outswing) at that pace, the batsmen will not be able to handle him.
“He has now played just three matches at this level and once he plays Ranji Trophy, he will be even better. The more match situations he faces, the better match awareness he will have,” he added. Rasool said.
“Finally, we need cricketers who are playing for J&K. He will be an automatic selection for the Ranji Trophy this season and it will be great to see him play red-ball cricket.”
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