Team India's star pacer Umran Malik had a great 2022 and is considered to be one of the most talented bowlers in Indian cricket. The speedster consistently performed well for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL), finishing the season with 22 wickets in 14 IPL matches. Malik's impressive performances in the IPL helped him earn a maiden call-up to the Indian squad for the T20I series against South Africa in June. Since then Umran has played five ODIs and three T20Is for India.
Umran is also part of India's T20 and ODI squads for IND vs SL series, starting from January 3. Due to his consistency in pace, Umran is constantly compared to former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar, one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket. Shoaib holds the record for bowling the fastest delivery in international cricket. Popularly known as 'Rawalpindi Express', Akhtar bowled a delivery at a speed of 161.3 kmph against England during the 2003 World Cup. Till date, no bowler has been able to break Shoaib's record.
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During an exclusive interview with News 24, pacer Umran was asked whether he aims to break Akhtar's long-standing record. On this, the young speedster from Jammu & Kashmir gave a straightforward reply. Malik said he doesn't think about records and wants to do well for India.
“Right now, I'm only thinking about performing well for the country. If I do well, and if I'm lucky, I'll break that. But I don't think about it at all,” said Umran to News14 during a recent interaction.
“You don't get to realise how fast you've bowled during the match. It's only when we come back after the game when we get to know how fast I was. During the game, my only focus is on bowling in the right areas and picking wickets,” he added.