I want to represent India as soon as possible: Umran Malik [Interview]

Gone are those days when India was accused of not producing tearaway fast bowlers. The current set-up has many pacers who can set the speed gun on fire and trouble the best of the batters. Among those is Umran Malik, who’s seen as the next big thing in Indian cricket. Hailing from Jammu and Kashmir, Malik belongs to the rare breed of speed merchants, who can clock 150 kmph on a consistent basis.

He burst onto the scenes in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, where he made his debut for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Notably, Umran wasn’t in the initial squad and only came as a short-term replacement for injured pacer T Natarajan. After getting knocked out of the playoff race, SRH management decided to give their benched players a go and, Malik made full use of the opportunity.

He left the cricket world stunned with his fiery bowling and earned praises from different corners. He, in fact, clocked 152.95 kmph in a game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, the fastest delivery by an Indian in the tournament’s history. His blitzes made SRH retain him for INR 4 crore ahead of IPL 2022 mega auction. Notably, this gem was unearthed by none other than former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who served Jammu and Kashmir cricket team as a player-cum mentor for a brief period.

Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with CricTracker, Umran opened about many things and made some interesting revelations as well. From shredding light on his stint with SRH to Irfan’s influence on his career, let’s look at how the star pacer responded to our queries.

Here are the excerpts Umran Malik’s interview:

What has been Irfan Pathan’s influence on your development as a pacer?

When Irfan bhai started his stint with Jammu and Kashmir, he saw me bowling at nets. He then helped me a lot to improve my skills. I used to send him my videos and he was regularly giving regular feedbacks on what I am doing right or wrong. So, his contribution in my career has been massive.

How was your experience playing for India A team on South Africa tour?

It was my first tour and I learnt a lot from there by playing matches.

Things have happened fast ever since you made your IPL debut for SRH last season. Have you been able to sit and catch a breathe to enjoy everything?

I haven’t got much time (to grasp things in). From the last couple of years, I was working really hard to get the opportunity to play for Jammu and Kashmir. I was determined to do well in whatever chances I’ll receive. From god’s grace, I got it (success) pretty quickly and now, I want to represent India as soon as possible.

You were retained ahead of some other big players in SRH for IPL 2022, how did you feel about it?

I was feeling very proud as among so many big players, they retained me, (Abdul) Samad bhai and Kane Williamson was retained. It’s a huge honour for me as I had played just three matches in my first IPL season. So, I thank god for this.

The most important thing you learned during the stint with Indian side as net bowler in the T20 World Cup?

When I was with the Indian team as a net bowler, I learnt how to operate in tandem with prominent fast bowlers. I was asking regularly from the likes of (Mohammed) Shami, (Jasprit) Bumrah and Bhvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar). Then they used to tell me how the dynamics work.

Many have compared your bowling style to Dale Steyn, what do you think of that comparison? And are you looking forward to working with him for SRH?

He has been a great fast bowler. He is our (SRH’s) bowling huge and I am looking forward to learn a lot of things from him. It will be a huge honour working with him. As far as comparisons are concerned, I feel extremely proud as he has been the top-ranked fast bowler. So, I feel very happy.