Umran Malik's success has been a Haris Rauf-inspired story: Lahore Qalandars' owner

Umran Malik has become a household name in a short span of time thanks to his ability to spit venom with the ball. The right-arm fast bowler belongs to a rare breed of Indian fast bowlers, who can clock over 150 kmph consistently. He has also been instrumental in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s stellar run in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, scalping 10 wickets in just seven games.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Super League franchise, Lahore Qalandars’ owner, Sameen Rana believes that Umran has been inspired by Pakistan pace sensation Haris Rauf, who has a similar story. The Lahore-based franchise picked Rauf in 2018, when the pacer was yet to make his First-Class debut. The speedster made his first domestic appearance a year later and his international debut came in 2020.

Lahore Qalandars’ Owner Draws Comparisons Between Haris Rauf and Umran Malik

Rana is of the opinion that Umran’s rise to prominence has been entirely inspired by Rauf’s journey.  “I am very happy that Lahore Qalandars have not just impressed Pakistan cricket but also Indian cricket. If you look at Umran Malik’s story, you will see that it has been a Haris Rauf-inspired story. Maybe they had followed Haris’ story and must have thought if it can happen in Pakistan, then why not in India,” said Rana while speaking to paktv.tv.

“Because there are a lot of similarities. Both started from white-ball cricket, are from Jammu and Kashmir, no background in first-class cricket,” he added. It must be noted that SRH picked Umran as a short-term replacement for COVID-infected T Natarajan during the 2021 season. The then 21-year-old had only played two First-Class games, one T20 and one List A match.

However, he took IPL by storm with his blistering pace and is touted to go a long way. “I have never seen that happen in IPL before. And it happened until Haris, who became a success and gave others a new pathway. I hope it doesn’t happen to Umran, but we were criticised a lot when Haris was in our team that we killed domestic cricket and affected the sport,” said Rana further.

“But today, he is Pakistan’s pride. When he goes abroad and plays for teams like Yorkshire, they call him ‘Pakistani superstar’. So we have given cricketers a new pathway and I want to take credit for that,” he added.

Check out the latest the IPL News, IPL Score, IPL points table, IPL Orange Cap and IPL Purple Cap updates on CricTracker.