Even though Kane Williamson-led Sunrisers Hyderabad failed to secure two points against IPL debutants Gujarat Titans in Match Number 40 of the ongoing Indian Premier League season at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday, young pace sensation Umran Malik managed to catch eyeballs with his fiery spell. The 22-year-old fast-bowler from Jammu City picked up five wickets and impressed everyone with his raw pace and ability to dodge batters with his outstanding skillset.
His figures of 4-0-25-5 are the best bowling performance in the ongoing season of the world’s richest franchise cricket league, and impressed by Umran’s star performance, Sunrisers fast-bowling coach Dale Steyn has showered praise on the emerging talent by saying that he is very close to donning the India Blues.
Speaking in a video posted by SRH’s official Twitter handle on Thursday, the 38-year-old former world number one Test bowler said, “Umran was fantastic. If anybody thought he was going to play for India before the start of the tournament, I think he has semi-cemented his spot in that Indian team in the future. I may have come to eat my words. He was wonderful today,” Steyn said after the Sunrisers’ third defeat in eight matches.
The pitch conditions suited him perfectly, as it did for somebody like (Mohammed) Shami, and he ran in and hit the deck really hard. Bowled straight lines really quickly and disturbed the timber quite often. He was absolutely marvelous,” he added.
Umran was one of the three players retained by the Hyderabad-based franchise ahead of this year’s mega auction, and in the eight matches he has played so far, Umran has picked up 15 wickets and is only behind Rajasthan Royals spinner Yuzvendra Chahal in the race for the Purple Cap.
Against Gujarat, he picked up his first fifer of the IPL and out of the five batters that he sent back to the pavilion, four were beaten by the pace and their bails got dislodged before they could make any move.
With five wins in eight matches played so far, the 2016 winners are in third position in the league table and will next take on Chennai Super Kings in Match Number 46 on May 1 at MCA Stadium in Pune.
