Umran recently touched the speed of 156 km/h, which is the fastest delivery bowled by an Indian pacer.
Days later, Sohail is drawing attention by taking potshots at Umran Malik, the latest pace sensation from India.
Thanks to his IPL 2022 exploits, Umran earned his India call-up and he has already made a mark at the highest level by consistently bowling at the speed of 150 kmph or more. The 23-year-old has represented India in 8 ODIs and as many T20Is so far, claiming a total of 24 wickets.
While former cricketers and experts are in awe of Umran, Sohail feels there is nothing special in the Jammu and Kashmir lad.
“I feel this Umran Malik guy is a good bowler. I’ve seen 1-2 matches. He runs fast and has kept other things is check as well. But if you think of fast bowlers with speed in excess of over 150-155 kph, I can count 12-15 players right now who play tape-ball cricket. If you go visit the trails organised by Lahore Qalandars, you’ll find many players," Sohail said while speaking on The Nadir Ali podcast.
“Iske (Umran Malik) jaise toh bohot hain. Domestic cricket bhari padi hai hamaari. (Our domestic setup is filled with bowlers like Umran Malik). When a bowler comes through in our domestic level, he becomes a bonafide bowler. Like Shaheen, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf… these are bowlers who know their stuff. I can give you plenty of names."
During the recently held white-ball series against Sri Lanka, Umran Malik touched the speed of 156 km/h, which is the fastest delivery bowled by an Indian pacer in international cricket.
When asked if Umran can indeed break Shoaib Akhtar’s record of the world’s fastest delivery (161.3 km/h), Sohail replied: “There is only one thing that can break Shoaib Akhtar’s record, and that is called a bowling machine because no human can ever do it. The reason is that the amount of hard work that Shoaib had put in, no one has. He used to complete 32 rounds in one day; I used to do 10 in a week. He would run on mountains with weight tied his legs and sprint."