Sunil Gavaskar give his opinion on Umran Malik
Sunil Gavaskar-Umran Malik (Image Source: BCCI/IPL)
The young speedster of Hyderabad, Umran Malik has captured the imagination of the fans and experts with his sheer pace. He has walked away with the ‘Fastest delivery of the Match’ award in all the matches he has been a part of. While clocking 150 plus has become a normality for Malik he went over 157 kmph in a match. It was the fastest delivery of the 2022 season of ITL and also the second-fastest in the history of the tournament.
But besides sheer pace, it’s Malik’s development as a bowler that has impressed everybody. In the initial stages of the tournament, Malik was seemingly struggling with control over line and length. But as the tournament progressed he started to find the proper rhythm and started to prove even more lethal. With his raw pace and newfound control, Malik is slowly becoming a nightmare for the batters. But Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar has stated that he would have loved the challenge of facing Malik.
Notably, Gavaskar played in an era when the game was dominated by lethal pacers. He scored a bagful of runs against the likes of Micheal Holding, Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshal, Jeff Thompson, Denis Lillee, Richard Hadlee, and others. Even more challenging was the fact that the protective gears during the time were not as updated as now and Gavaskar used to even avoid helmets. The legend with his technique and reflex would have been a tough batter to bowl at for Malik.
While commentating on the latest ITL match between Rajasthan and Delhi was heard saying- “I would love to face Umran Malik.”
Earlier during a conversation with Star Sports, Gavaskar praised Malik saying- “Umran Malik has been very, very impressed with his speed but more than his speed, it’s his accuracy. A lot of guys who bowl at that speed tend to spray the ball around but Umran bowls very few wide deliveries.”
As for his performances, Malik will look to bounce back strong after some expensive spells in the last few matches.
