India’s veteran fast bowler Ishant Sharma wants Umran Malik to not worry about line and length and back his pace. Malik has impressed with his raw pace and he has shown the skills to consistently bowl above 145 kmph.
Sharma wants Malik to concentrate on his pace and he feels the youngster will gain experience of bowling the right line and length with time. The 23-year-old speedster from the Valley has scalped 13 wickets in eight matches at an average of 27.31 and an economy rate of 6.45.
Many cricket boffins also reckon that Malik should improve his line and length in order to savor success. The gun fast bowler is part of the ODI series against Australia but he didn’t get his chance in the first two matches.
“He shouldn’t worry about where the deliveries land. With experience, he will understand. So if he can bowl at 150 or 160, he should concentrate only on that. He should just back himself and should not worry about leaking runs. What is the use of bowling that fast if the batters don’t end up closing their eyes in fear?” Ishant told Cricbuzz in an interview.
On the other hand, Malik had hogged the limelight in the previous season of the IPL 2022 while playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad. The fast bowler took 22 wickets in 14 matches and finished as the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the tournament. India’s experienced wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik also showered praise on the paceman.
“Umran Malik was the find of the last IPL when it comes to fast bowling for sure. What he brought to the table was extreme pace which India have never had. What I really liked about him is that he has really worked on his consistency in length because when you bowl that fast it becomes really difficult to be consistent with length,” India wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik hailed the right-arm pacer.
“He has also been someone who has bowled through the middle of the innings a lot more. The more he bowls in the powerplay and the death, it increases his chance of being in the 2023 World Cup team. And I think he has done that in the T20s,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
The deciding ODI between India and Australia will be played in Chennai on Wednesday.
