Playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), Umran Malik has impressed one and all with his express pace. He has consistently bowled over the 150 kmph mark in the T20 league.
The 22-year-old, who has claimed 21 wickets so far, has hurled the fastest delivery – 157 kmph – in the IPL 2022 season as well.
On Tuesday (May 17), Malik returned with the figures of 3 for 23 in his three overs to script SRH’s narrow three-run victory over Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium.
Apart from his fast bowling exploits, the Srinagar lad has caught everyone’s attention with his fist-pumping celebration, which he has picked from SRH bowling coach Dale Steyn in the nets.
“Dale sir stands as the umpire in the nets when I am bowling. When I take a wicket, he does this (celebration). One day I also did that and it has become a habit since,” Umran told Bhuvneshwar Kumar in a video posted on the IPL website.
“I have learnt a lot from him (Steyn). If we are bowling for three hours in the nets, he’ll keep standing with us throughout the three hours.”
With this match-winning spell against MI, Umran Malik also became the youngest Indian bowler to take 20 or more wickets in an IPL season, breaking Jasprit Bumrah's record from 2017.
His tally of 21 wickets is the second-highest for a pacer (behind Kagiso Rabada’s 22) in the ongoing season and the fourth-highest overall.
“This is my first full season, this was my 13th game. I have played all the matches, so that feels really good,” Malik said. “I have taken wickets and gone for runs too, so in the matches where I have been expensive, I’ve tried to learn from that, from the mistakes that I’ve made.”
When Bhuvneshwar asked whether pace comes naturally to him or it is a result of strength training, Umran replied: “I bowl fast (naturally). So the pace keeps getting generated by itself. I put in a lot of effort with my body. Even in tennis-ball cricket, I would bowl a lot of fast yorkers. So no one would feel like playing against me. That has helped me a lot. The tennis ball is much lighter, so if you are bowling fast with it, it helps you when you bowl with the leather ball."
