Legendary batter Brian Lara has backed Umran Malik to do big things for India but also gave an important piece of advice to him. After a breakthrough IPL 2022, Malik was touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket as great Sunil Gavaskar labelled him as the prospect he is most excited for after Sachin Tendulkar. With his raw pace, Umran troubled the batters in IPL 2022 but things didn’t turn out as expected for him in the Indian colours thus far. He also had an underwhelming IPL 2023 with Sunrisers Hyderabad as he also get dropped from the XI in a few matches.
Lara, former head coach of SRH, has shared some advice for Umran. The legendary batter suggested that Umran should focus on adding variety in his bowling as pace alone would not trouble the best batters. “He will be a sensation, but very quickly he will have to learn that fast bowling really does not trouble the best players in the world. You have to have the ability to do something with the ball,” Lara said on the YouTube channel Wake Up With Sorabh.
According to Lara, if Umran Malik works with the South African legend Dale Steyn, he could become of the best bowlers India has produced. Lara added that the 23-year-old pacer has got great pace but has to add variety to his bowling and then only he could become a great bowler. Citing examples of Wasim Akram, Michael Holding and Malcolm Marshal, Lara said that they were not only quick but also had a lot of tricks up their sleeves.
“We have had so many different examples. Wasim Akram was raw pace, Malcolm Marshall had destructive pace, and Michael Holding. But they all know that at some point in time, they have had to come up with a lot more tricks than just being able to bowl fast. If he (Umran Malik) works with Dale Steyn, he could definitely be one of the best India could produce,” Lara said.
Malik made his India debut in 2022 in T20Is against Ireland. The tearaway pacer has played 8 T20Is and 10 ODIs claiming 11 and 13 wickets respectively thus far in his career. He last appeared for India in the second ODI in the series against West Indies where he just bowled three overs and couldn’t find his rhythm giving away 27 runs. Umran is also part of the Indian T20I squad for the West Indies series but hasn’t cracked the playing XI yet. With 2 T20Is still left, Umran will be hoping to get a game.
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