Aaqib Javed feels Umran Malik deserved more opportunities in the T20I team.
Former Pakistan cricketer Aaqib Javed believes that the Indian team has missed a trick by not giving more opportunities to the young express pacer Umran Malik ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
Notably, Umran was called up to the Indian team after his impressive performance for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL 2022, where the Jammu and Kashmir speedster bowled consistently over 150 kmph and took 22 wickets. However, after a few games, he was dropped from the team.
As India has plenty of young pace options likes Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, and Harshal Patel, they all are more effective than Umran, the 22-year-old pacer was dropped from the team due to a lack of control. However, Javed believes Umran deserved more chances, especially with the T20 World Cup 2022 in mind.
Aaqib Javed was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times: “Pace is pace. Be it T20s, ODIs, or Test matches, you need bowlers who can take wickets. If you study this format, you need wickets. Bowlers win you tournaments, batting wins you matches.”
He continued, “I think India missed a trick by dropping Umran. He should have got more chances, as no batter likes to face a pacer who bowls at 150 kmph. I think they missed a trick there. They could have developed him by giving him more chances before the T20 World Cup.”
Javed signed off by saying, “I was really impressed when I saw Umran bowling for the first time. He bowled at 155 kmph and landed in the right areas. What more do you want? Especially when you’re going to Australia, where you get that extra zip and something on the seam front as well. It would have created a serious fast bowling attack with him, Jasprit Bumrah, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.”