Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra lauded Umran Malik for his fearsome bowling in the IPL 2022 and said that many batters left the battle after being scared and threatened by his fiery bowling.
The 22-year-old fast bowler earned his maiden India call-up for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa on the back of his stunning performance for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL 2022.
Umran consistently bowled over 150 km/h and even once touched the 157 kmph mark, which was the second-fastest delivery of the IPL 2022. Given his fiery pace, batters found it tough to face the youngster, while the fans and cricket experts were just in awe of the Jammu and Kashmir pacer.
Chopra on his YouTube channel: “First on that list is Umran Malik, his name is about to come anyway. He is the Jammu Tawi Express, what a fast bowler he is. His ball has sharpness. He has made people run away by scaring and threatening them.”
He added, “He got hit in one or two matches, when he gets hit, he gets hit a lot, then the dam is broken, 40 runs in four overs. Quite a few times, Kane Williamson didn't bowl him his entire quota as well but whenever he has bowled well, he has taken three-four wickets and even a five-wicket haul.”
Explaining how Umran’s bowling improved while playing in the IPL 15, Chopra said: “Of course, everyone will talk about his pace because he has that, either you are a fast bowler or you are not. But what I liked about him was that when he started, he was spraying the ball around, the ball was going everywhere if you see the bee-hive. As the tournament progressed, the bee-hive started coming closer.”
He signed off by saying, “His bowling became more well-directed. He conceded runs later also but it was not because he was bowling wide. The batters play well at times, and use the pace well, which does happen. But this boy will go far.”
