‘He’s going to take the world by storm’: Chris Lynn on Umran Malik

Hyderabad and Gujarat played out a last-ball thriller in the 40^th match of the Indian T20 League 2022. Gujarat won the match by five wickets on the back of brilliant knocks by Rahul Tewatia (40 off 21) and Rashid Khan (30 off 11). But it was Umran Malik of Hyderabad who grabbed all the attention for his brilliant spell in the match. He earned the Player of the Match award despite being on the losing side, proof of his impact on the match.

Malik bowled a fiery spell where he picked up five wickets in the four overs he bowled, conceding just 25 runs. The fact that four of his five dismissals were bowled has impressed the world even more. He had just five wickets to his name in the first five matches and control over his line and length looked a major concern. But in the last three matches, he has considerably improved his line and length. He has been breathing fire with the ball in hand and is blowing any and all batters coming his way. His sheer pace and newly found control have excited the whole cricketing fraternity. One of those who has been superbly impressed by the Jammu and Kashmir pacer is the Australian explosive batter, Chris Lynn.

When asked about his opinion on whether Malik is ready for international cricket, Lynn said – “From the outside looking in, definitely.”

“I will factor the wickets are bouncy here in Australia and you need I suppose that youth and just that guys haven’t played against it. You keep going back to whom you drop because it is such a formidable line-up but would love to see this guy in the World Cup. He’s going to take the world by storm if he does get a chance at the international level. It is lucky that I am not a selector for India,” Lynn said during his conversation with ESPNcricinfo on the program ‘T20 Time Out.’

Umran Malik has picked up 15 wickets in the Indian T20 League 2022 so far. 10 of these 15 wickets have come in the last three matches and he is in a very potent form with the ball in hand. If he continues with the current form, much to the expectations of Chris Lynn, he might well be on the flight to Australia for the T20 World Cup 2022.