E-Paper
Sign in
'He's made people run away by scaring, threatening them': Ex-India cricketer's praise for Umran; 'This boy will go far'
IPL 2022: Umran Malik even touched the 157 kph mark in the game against Delhi Capitals. It was the fastest delivery of the 10-team tournament till Lockie Ferguson clocked 157.3 kph in the final at Ahmedabad.
Sunrisers Hyderabad paceman Umran Malik took the Indian Premier League (IPL) by storm with his raw pace. The 22-year-old fast bowler from Jammu went on to earn his maiden India call-up for the Twenty20 series against South Africa after a stellar season with the 2016 IPL champions. The son of a fruit vendor, Umran rattled many big guns to each rich praise from cricket pundits and fans.
Former India batter Aakash Chopra has also lavished praise on the speed demon, saying he intimidated the opposition batters with his thunderbolts. Umran even touched the 157 kph mark in the game against Delhi Capitals. It was the fastest delivery of the 10-team tournament till Lockie Ferguson clocked 157.3 kph in the final at Ahmedabad.
"First on that list is Umran Malik, his name is about to come anyway. He is the Jammu Tawi Express, what a fast bowler he is. His ball has the sharpness. He has made people run away by scaring and threatening them," said Chopra on his YouTube channel.
"He got hit in one or two matches, when he gets hit, he gets hit a lot, then the dam is broken, 40 runs in four overs. Quite a few times, Kane Williamson didn't bowl him his entire quota as well but whenever he has bowled well, he has taken three-four wickets and even a five-wicket haul," he further added.
Chopra also poined out how Umran worked on bowling the right line and length as the competition progressed.
Also Read | 'If you can be even 50 percent like your father…': Kapil Dev to Arjun Tendulkar
Umran, who returned 5/25 in the league-stage fixture against Gujarat Titans, was the first player on a losing team this season to be awarded man of the match. He ended the season with 22 plucks in 14 games and Hyderabad's bowling coach Dale Steyn also said that he was ‘blown away' by the youngster's speed.
"Of course, everyone will talk about his pace because he has that, either you are a fast bowler or you are not. But what I liked about him was that when he started, he was spraying the ball around, the ball was going everywhere if he see the bee-hive. As the tournament progressed, the bee-hive started coming closer," Chopra explained.
"His bowling became more well-directed. He conceded runs later also but it was not because he was bowling wide. The batters play well at times, use the pace well, which does happen. But this boy will go far."
