Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) speedster Umran Malik is having a great time in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). He has caught everyone’s attention with his sheer pace and bounce.
On Friday (April 15), Umran put on another fast bowling exhibition against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. He consistently clocked the speed of 145+ kph and returned with impressive figures of 2 for 27 in his four overs.
During the IPL 2022, the Jammu and Kashmir lad has also bowled the fastest delivery in the tournament history with the one clocking 153.1 kph against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) last Saturday (April 9).
He may have conceded 173 runs in five matches at an economy of 9.61, but head coach Tom Moody is not worried about it as Umran Malik has been given the license "to run in and express himself."
"At the end of the day, when you are bowling 150 kph in this format, you don't expect you are not going to go for runs. He goes for a lot of runs behind the wicket. But it's not like he is getting smashed down the ground or through the covers," Moody said.
"So you have got to accept that his style of bowling, there's going to be a higher economy to that. And his role is to run in and express himself and be himself," the coach said at the post-match conference after his side's seven-wicket victory over KKR.
"We accept he is going to go for runs, because of the nature of how he bowls but what we want to see from him is the return in terms of wickets," Moody added.
SRH’s fast bowling coach Dale Steyn also enjoyed Umran Malik’s lightening fast spell against KKR. He jumped off his seat in the dug-out after Umran cleaned up the opposition skipper Shreyas Iyer with a stunning yorker.
"There is a lot of planning that goes on with any sort of match-up against any opponent. I think the emotion that was shown in the dug-out was more about the joy for a young fast bowler getting such an important wicket for us," Moody said.
"Umran has been embraced by the franchise. He is an exciting cricketer, there's no question about that. Everyone enjoys watching him bowl. He bowled particularly well (against KKR). He stuck to his plans and we were quite meticulous trying to help him understand his role. He got his reward for that, which is great."
"He (Umran) is clearly still at the beginning of his journey. He is learning every single day and having the likes of Dale Steyn around him is an enormous boost for him because he is learning so much on the go.
"We try to build a plan and a field around that and help him develop as a young fast bowler."
Chasing 176 to win, SRH rode on Rahul Tripathi’s swashbuckling 71 off 37 balls (4 fours and 6 sixes) and Aiden Markram’s unbeaten 68 off 36 balls (6 fours and 4 sixes) to overhaul the target with 13 deliveries to spare.
"Rahul has batted very well in this tournament. He was struck down with a cramp in the last game which was a shame for him," Moody said.
"It's great to see him come out and grab the game by the scruff of the neck and show leadership in the top order."
Talking about his side's three successive wins after losing the first two games, Moody said, "We have got a lot of new faces in the squad, it's finding their way, feeling settled in the environment, settling in their roles.
"Everyone feeling comfortable with the balance in the side and we have built confidence from the first win onwards."
(With PTI inputs)
