Umran Malik has become the talk of the town for his express pace in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).

Playing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Umran has consistently clocked 150+ kmph with the ball and many top batters have found him difficult to deal with.

However, the young speedster has been quite expensive with the ball, conceding 397 runs from 12 matches at an economy rate of 9.02 as some teams opted for a counter-attacking approach to neutralize him.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s star pacer Anrich Nortje has advised Umran Malik to combine control with his sheer pace to survive the rigours of international cricket going forward.

Regarded as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket, Nortje recently made a comeback in this IPL for Delhi Capitals (DC) after a four-month lay-off due to a hip injury.

“I am sure Umran is going to be one of the key players for India in near future. Luck will also have to play its part. But most importantly, it’s about the quality of what you deliver as we have seen fastest deliveries that are being awarded are going for boundaries,” Nortje told PTI in an exclusive chat.

“It doesn’t matter at what pace it is bowled. Pace is not the be-all and end-all. It is about the quality of execution. And I believe he is improving on that aspect of having control with pace. Also at Sunrisers Hyderabad, under Dale (Steyn, fast bowling coach), Umran is in good hands. He has a lot of senior and experienced players around him, so he will certainly improve,” he added.

In the ongoing season, Nortje has featured in only four of Delhi Capitals’ 12 games, taking six wickets in them.

“It’s been a long break but it’s good to be out there on the field with the team and it was long time at home. I needed a break at the start (of my injury) but got very long at the end not knowing what’s going on.

“It’s really good feeling to get going again and obviously trying to bowl at level I was bowling,” the 28-year-old said.

When asked how much time it would take him to hit the peak again, Nortje replied: “If I knew the answer I would have told you. I am myself trying to figure out as well. There is obviously a balance between the amount we can bowl at this stage and so you can’t really bowl 20 to 30 overs in a week really.”

“Just trying to find a balance. Quantity of overs bowled will play a massive role later on but for now, just trying to focus on small things — like trying to remember what I was doing right before I ended up injured in November. So trying to find that feeling but it might take some time just to get on top of everything,” he further said.

(With PTI inputs)