New Delhi: Sunrisers Hyderabad star fast-bowler Umran Malik has impressed the world with his ability to bowl at a tremendous speed in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. The 22-year-old fast world took the cash-rich T20 tournament by storm with his jaw-dropping pace at such a young age. Malik holds the record for bowling the fastest delivery (157 kph) in IPL 2022 and has even managed to bag a fifer with such little experience. His consistent performance has led to cricket experts and fans backing Umran for an India call-up ahead of the T20 World Cup.
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Meanwhile, Pakistani cricketer Kamran Akmal has given a controversial statement while praising Malik for his outstanding bowling in the IPL 2022. Akmal said that Malik would have played international cricket, had he been in Pakistan.
“If he was in Pakistan, maybe he would have played international cricket. His economy is high, but he is a strike bowler since he is getting wickets,” Akmal was quoted as saying by Paktv.tv.
“After every match, his speed chart comes where he clocks around 155 km/h and it’s not going down. It’s a good competition in the Indian team. Earlier, Indian cricket lacked quality fast bowlers, but now they have a plethora of pacers like Navdeep Saini, (Mohammed) Siraj, (Mohammed) Shami and (Jasprit) Bumrah."
Comparing Umran Malik with Bret Lee and Shoaib Akhtar, Akmal said that the legendary bowling duo was also expensive but picked wickets as well.
“Last season he played only one or two games. If he was in Pakistan, he would surely have played for us. But Indian cricket showed a lot of maturity by giving Malik a chance to play in an entire IPL season. Brett Lee and Shoaib (Akhtar) bhai were also expensive, but they picked up wickets and that's how strike bowlers should be," he added.