SRH's Umran Malik can be moulded into a fantastic fast bowler: Kris Srikkanth

Umran Malik, the 21-year-old right-arm pacer from Kashmir made his IPL debut playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Kolkata Knight Riders. He fetched in a lot of attention as he clocked 150kph in his first over. This, however, turned out to be the fastest delivery in this season of IPL by an Indian bowler.

Umran conceded 27 runs in his spell of four overs. Though he couldn’t scalp a wicket, his pace and the way he made things difficult for KKR’s batters caught the attention of the cricket experts and the on-lookers. The former India skipper and opening batter Krishnamachari Srikkanth feels that Malik can be groomed into a fantastic fast bowler.

Umran Malik can be moulded into a fantastic fast bowler: K Srikkanth

“Don’t forget, Umran Malik of SRH, he is a good pick. That guy can be moulded into a fantastic fast bowler. Nitish Rana struggled. Some weaknesses of KKR’s batting were exposed. He has just played one T20 game. See somebody made a very good point during commentary – Jasprit Bumrah was picked like this. Today see, where he is.

“You never know. His run-up, his action everything resembles a bit of Waqar Younis’s style. He has a very good rhythmic run-up and he is able to bowl at a good pace. The way he was making Nitish Rana dance was amazing,” Srikant said on his YouTube channel ‘Cheeky Cheeka.’

Umran featured for Jammu and Kashmir in just two T20s and one List-A match after he made his debut in this year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The speedster scalped three wickets against Railways on his domestic debut. His stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad began as a net bowler. He was then included in the squad after SRH’s key player T Natarajan tested positive at the start of the second half of the tournament.

In the match against KKR, SRH’s batting line-up yet again experienced a collapse. The team could post the target of just 116 runs. For KKR, Shubman Gill starred with the bat as he hit an impressive half-century. Nitish Rana (25) and Dinesh Karthik (18*) helped the team to go past the total and secured victory by six wickets.