Umran Malik's future is bright, I like the way SRH and Kane Williamson are handling him: Irfan Pathan [Interview]

Umran Malik has been the toast of the nation in the ongoing 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The youngster has impressed the cricketing fraternity with his sheer pace and the Sunrisers Hyderabad are also backing him to the hilt. At no stage the 22-year-old has compromised with his pace this season and while, at times, he has gone for runs, Umran is also picking up wickets as the season is progressing. Irfan Pathan was the one who watched him closely during his stint with J&K and is impressed with the youngster’s progress.

On Sunday (April 17), Umran delivered a sensational last over bowling a maiden and picking up three wickets. It was a testament to his improvement as well as the young bowler looked menacing. He got the job done for his team by nipping out the tail and had also picked Jitesh Sharma’s crucial wicket earlier in the innings to end with the figures of 4/28 in his four overs.

Speaking exclusively to CricTracker, Irfan Pathan stated that the fast bowler is improving with every match he’s playing and also lauded SRH for backing him. “Umran Malik is the fastest Indian bowler we’ve ever had. He is consistently clocking 150 kmph speed. He is getting better with each passing day. He is improving. Sunrisers Hyderabad are showing immense faith in him,” he said.

I like the way SRH using Umran, says Irfan

Umran Malik has mostly bowled in the overs outside of powerplay this season. While SRH are giving him full freedom to bowl at pace, they are also making sure that he gets all the support by introducing the pacer in the middle overs. It is also leading to him taking wickets and troubling the batters with his pace. Irfan Pathan liked the way the Orange Army is handling him and felt Umran Malik is fulfilling the role the way Rashid Khan did for SRH.

“I quite like the way Kane Williamson is handling him. In the first match, he bowled in third or fourth over in the powerplay. As soon as they realised, SRH management seems to have thought let’s bowl him after the powerplay and make him a middle-overs wicket-taker, something what Rashid Khan used to do. They are planning the same thing with him and are giving him proper space as well. He is being nicely managed by SRH and Kane Williamson,” Irfan further said.

When asked if he has any message for the 22-year-old, Irfan Pathan just advised him to not change anything and also predicted a bright future for him. “I am really happy with his progress and I really hope that he keeps doing what he is doing at the moment. His future is bright,” he added.

Umran Malik has so far picked up nine wickets this season in six innings and he will improve even further with a former player like Dale Steyn present in the dressing room as a bowling coach. The former South Africa cricketer is already amazed by the way Umran has been bowling and even enjoyed the way he castled Shreyas Iyer with a scintillating yorker. Steyn celebrating the moment with Muttiah Muralitharan in the dugout was exciting to watch as well.

Moreover, Steyn recently revealed that Umran Malik has been his inspiration in a Q&A session on Twitter which clearly shows he admires the youngster for the giant strides he is taking at the top-level cricket.