Former Australia great Brett Lee has suggested that the Indian captain Rohit Sharma should give more matches to lethal speedster Umran Malik. The Jammu-Kashmir-based bowler came into the limelight after he got a chance in the Indian Premier League due to his deadly speed. He can easily clock 150 kmph.
In IPL 2022, he put up a brilliant show with the ball and, as a result, made it into the Indian squad. Umran was named in the Indian team for the recently-concluded three-match ODI series against Australia, but he was seen warming the bench.
"Umran Malik is a wonderful bowler. He is a special talent. If his workload is taken care of properly, he will do wonders," Lee told TimesofIndia.com.
"I believe he (Umran) can play all three formats of the game. We must manage him correctly. The best way to manage him correctly is to allow him to bowl, give him as many games as possible, and don't rest him in every second game. Just don't let him go into the gym more and lift heavy weights. He should do light muscle mass in the gym which is important for him. He should work on his sprinting and obviously his core strengthening," he added.
Umran has played eight ODIs as of now and has scalped 13 wickets. He has 11 wickets in his kitty in the eight T20Is he has played so far. Earlier, Umran delivered the fastest ball in international cricket after he bowled at the speed of 155 kph against Sri Lanka. He also broke the record of India’s ace speedster Jasprit Bumrah as he held the record of bowling at 153.36 kph. Malik was fifth in the list of highest wicket-takers in IPL 2022 and has taken 22 wickets in 14 matches at an average of 20 and an economy rate of 8.93.