Former Indian legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar is excited to note a fast bowler like Umran Malik rising through the ranks. Gavaskar said the last Indian player he was excited to watch was Sachin Tendulkar, who had a glorious career.
Meanwhile, Umran Malik has hogged the limelight with his express pace. The gun fast bowler from Jammu and Kashmir bowled consistently above 145 km/h in the recently concluded Tata IPL 2022 and breathed down the neck of the opposition batters with his extra speed.
Malik scalped 22 wickets in 14 matches while playing for SunRisers Hyderabad at an average of 20.18 and an economy rate of 9.01. The 22-year-old not only impressed with his extra pace but also improved his accuracy while playing under the mentorship of Dale Steyn.
After his impressive performances in the IPL, Malik received his maiden call-up to the Indian team for the five-match T20I series against South Africa. However, the youngster didn’t get his chance in the first two T20Is against the Proteas.
“The last time I got really excited at seeing an Indian player was Sachin Tendulkar. And after that, I am excited to see Umran Malik. I do believe he should play, but again they might say that let us win the third one and get ourselves in a situation, and then maybe they can think about experimenting. It also depends on what the kind of surface they will get at Vizag,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
Meanwhile, India is under the pump as they have lost the opening two matches against the tourists. Gavaskar feels India doesn’t have wicket-taking options apart from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal. Kumar had scalped four wickets in the second T20I but Chahal conceded 49 runs in his quota of four overs.
“The major problem is the fact that they don’t have wicket-taking bowlers in this squad apart from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal. So, you take wickets and then you get the opposition under pressure. So, in both the matches, did anybody look like getting a wicket apart from Bhuvneshwar Kumar? He was getting the ball to move. That is the issue which is the reason why a total of 211 was something that they could not defend,” he said on Star Sports after the match.
The third T20I between India and South Africa will be played at Vishakhapatnam on Tuesday.
