Only three First-Class matches and only one List A game. If any other player had arrived in the Indian Premier League with such a domestic record, he might have failed to grab the attention of the cricket pundits, but the case of Umran Malik is a bit different. (IPL FULL COVERAGE)
How can you ignore a bowler who delivers over 145 kmph+ more often than not? Umran Malik, the 22-year-old right-arm pacer from Jammu and Kashmir, got an opportunity to play for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2021.
Umran was a net bowler of the SRH team when T Natarajan got infected with COVID-19 and the 2016 IPL champions included him as a short-term replacement. Since then, there was no looking back for Umran.
With 21 wickets in 13 matches so far in the ongoing IPL 2022, Umran Malik received a maiden India call-up for South Africa T20s on Sunday.
The SRH management knew he had an extreme pace. They will obviously know if a batsman like Jonny Bairstow asks him to slow down his pace when facing him in the nets and when other batters too prefer saving their lives than taking him on during practice.
On his debut IPL match against Kolkata Knight Riders in October 2021, Umran Malik caught the eye. His raw pace was the only reason and he clocked 150 kmph quite easily in the match.
Umran got to play just three games in IPL 2021, but that was enough for him to convince SRH to retain him ahead of IPL auction 2022 for INR 4 crore. And now in IPL 2022, the speedster is hogging the limelight with his performance once again.
On April 11, Malik bowled the fastest delivery of IPL 2022 by clocking 153 kmph during SRH’s match against Gujarat Titans that his side won by eight wickets.
"He's absolutely rapid. Facing him in the nets is a nightmare. I've got my chest guard on to not get hurt. Imagine what those balls (in the game) will be feeling out there," said SRH batter Glenn Phillips on Sunday after Malik bowled a triple-wicket maiden against Punjab Kings at DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai.
The performance helped him become only the fourth player in IPL history to bowl a maiden in the 20th over. He joined Irfan Pathan (in 2008), Lasith Malinga (in 2009), and Jaydev Unadkat (in 2017) on the list.
Umran Malik’s Childhood
Umran, the best friend of another star player from Jammu and Kashmir Abdul Samad, started as a tennis ball cricketer. It was at 17 when Umran Malik started playing with a proper cricket ball.
A local coach Randhir Singh Manhas first spotted his talent and then some professional guidance from Jammu and Kashmir state players and former international star Irfan Pathan, helped Umran showcase his talent in IPL.
Umran, the son of a fruit seller in Jammu, was not serious with his cricket career at the beginning and was happy playing gully cricket and local tournaments, but coach Manhas’ belief that he would one day play for India motivated the young man.
Despite being rejected in the U-19 and U-23 trials for Jammu and Kashmir, Umran Malik backed himself. Samad too helped him a lot in his journey. From pleading to the coach of U-23 team in 2020 for Umran Malik to showing his bowling videos to SRH, Samad possibly did everything a best friend does.
