Former India players Virender Sehwag and Sunil Gavaskar were left unimpressed with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain Aiden Markram’s ‘behind the scene' remark when asked about pacer Umran Malik’s absence from the playing XI when they clashed with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their final home game of IPL 2023 in Hyderabad on May 18.
Everyone was excited to watch what express pacer Umran Malik would do in IPL 2023, especially after his heroics for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2022, where he picked up 22 wickets to place among the Purple Cap contenders.
As a result, he made his India debut in T20Is and ODIs. Greater things were expected of him in the 2023 IPL season.
However, in the IPL 2023, he only managed to play in seven of SRH's 13 games this season, bowling only 17 overs, indicating he wasn't even utilized for his entire four-overs quota each match.
At the toss on Thursday, Markram was asked by Ian Bishop the reason behind SRH continuously not selecting Umran in the XI.
He said: “Not too sure to be honest. Certainly, he's a player with the X factor, bowls at 150kph, but I don't really what's about behind the scenes but he has a lot of X factor.”
The answer did leave many a fan and expert scratching their head.
Speaking on Cricbuzz, former India opener Virender Sehwag felt that Umran Malik might have been benched as probably he had a spat with the SRH management.
“I feel you can do anything behind the scene that is your life, if you are performing in the ground and you are working hard for it, that is important for me. When I was the coach or mentor, I believed that when you are in the ground I want to 100 percent effort from you, off the field what you do, I have no meaning in that, that is your life. I truly did not understand what 'behind the scene' meant.
It could be that he (Umran) had a fight with the management or maybe there was an argument, then that is bad. You were given an opportunity, you did not perform, and now you have to wait until your next chance. You should shut the mouths with your performance,” he said.
Sehwag revealed that Markram’s remark reminded him of David Warner who had spoken much on the same lines during his stay at the SRH franchise.
“I think something similar was said by David Warner as well. This was the same language, only Markram put it in a better way,” he said.
But Sehwag also pointed out Malik’s performance this season. Malik proved expensive this season where he collected five wickets in seven games at an average and economy of 35.20 and 10.35 respectively.
“You were given an opportunity, you did not perform, now you have to wait until your next chance. You should shut the mouths with your performance,” Sehwag added.
On the other, legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar felt that Markram was probably only following orders and that he did not have much of a say in the selection matters.
“Probably Markram genuinely doesn’t know why Umran has been dropped or he may be told not to pick him. And when Markram has been provided with no reason then what else will he say,” Gavaskar said.
SRH still has one more game to play, against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede on May 21.
