ISLAMABAD
\nSpeed demon Umran Malik is being backed to win a place in India\u2019s bowling attack after lighting up the IPL with deliveries of more than 150kph (93mph) and wickets galore.
\nThe 22-year-old returned figures of 5-25, becoming the first player on a losing team this season to be awarded man of the match, as his Sunrisers Hyderabad team went down to Gujarat Titans in a last-over thriller.
\nUmran Malik\u2019s rise from the Jammu region of Indian-occupied Kashmir to the Indian Premier League has been nothing short of a fairy-tale.
\nThe son of a fruit vendor rattled Gujarat\u2019s big guns including skipper Hardik Pandya, Wriddhiman Saha and David Miller to earn rich praise from cricketing greats.
\nFormer Test captain Sunil Gavaskar had already predicted Malik would play for India and, after the express bowler\u2019s five-wicket haul, said India should \u201ctake him to England for the one-off Test and the limited-overs (in July).\u201d
\nFormer England batsman Kevin Pietersen said on Star Sports: \u201cI think what was more exciting than these five wickets is the way Sunny (Gavaskar) was celebrating in the commentary box. \u201cPunching the ceiling, jumping and screaming. I think Sunny did that because how often have we seen India producing the fastest bowler in world cricket?\u201d
\nIndia, once renowned for producing spin bowlers, currently have a potent pace attack led by Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah.
\nThe fast bowling revolution was started more than 20 years ago by Zaheer Khan, now director of cricket with Mumbai Indians, and has seen a steady stream of world-class pace bowlers emerge since.
\nMalik, menacing with a thick mop of hair and a silver chain, bowled Saha with an unplayable yorker at nearly 153kph to raise the roof at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. He flattened Miller\u2019s stumps with another pacy delivery and then bowled Abhinav Manohar for a duck to register his first IPL five-wicket return.
\n\u201cThe idea was just to bowl as fast as I can. The ground is slightly on the smaller side so the idea is to stay on the stumps, mix the pace and try to keep the ball within the stumps,\u201d Malik said. \u201cGod willing, if I have to bowl 155kph, I will do it one day. But at the moment, all I want to do is bowl well.\u201d
\nGujarat\u2019s New Zealand import Lockie Ferguson has bowled the fastest delivery at 153.9kph this year so far. Australia\u2019s Shaun Tait bowled the IPL\u2019s fastest ball at 157kph in 2011.
\nMalik was picked up by Hyderabad last season as a Covid replacement for T. Natarajan. His raw pace in just three matches prompted the India team management to keep him in the United Arab Emirates after the IPL as a net bowler for the T20 World Cup.
\nHyderabad, champions in 2016, retained him for $523,000 ahead of the auction this season and the bowler has repaid them with 15 wickets in eight matches. \u201cThe rise and rise of Umran Malik is the story of this IPL,\u201d tweeted former India opener Wasim Jaffer.
\nMalik was mentored by former India fast bowler Irfan Pathan at the Kashmir state side and now is under the tutelage of South Africa fast-bowling great Dale Steyn, Hyderabad\u2019s bowling coach.
\n\u201cUmran is growing in confidence as the tournament unfolds. He bowled exceptionally well tonight,\u201d said Hyderabad coach Tom Moody. \u201cThe most pleasing thing with Umran is he is constantly wanting to learn and improve.\u201d
\nThe troubled region of Kashmir has thrown up exciting talent in the IPL including Malik\u2019s Hyderabad teammate Abdul Samad, an attacking batsman.
\nOff-spinner Parvez Rasool became the first player from Jammu and Kashmir to be awarded an IPL contract in 2013. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD Speed demon Umran Malik is being backed to win a place in India\u2019s bowling attack after lighting up the IPL with deliveries of more than 150kph (93mph) and wickets galore. The 22-year-old returned figures of 5-25, becoming the first player on a losing team this season to be awarded man of the match, as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258322,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-258301","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n