Ousted from SRH Head Coach position, Brian Lara breaks silence on why Umran Malik did not get enough gametime in IPL 2023

Legendary Batsman says Umran needs to work with Dale Steyn to improve his bowling.

Ousted from SRH Head Coach position, Brian Lara breaks silence on why Umran Malik did not get enough gametime in IPL 2023

Brian Lara and Umran Malik (Image via Twitter)

In an interview with Comedian Sorabh Pant, West Indies legend, and ex-SRH Coach Brian Lara said that young Indian pacer, Umran Malik, needs to learn that bowling fast won’t trouble batsmen. Lara used to coach Sunrisers Hyderabad and was very impressed by Umran Malik and his raw pace, but also said that the J&K pacer needs to have some abilities with the ball apart from pace.

Umran Malik broke out onto the scenes during the 2nd leg of the 2021 IPL while playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad. He replaced T. Natarajan, who had just caught Covid. In his first game, he showed the world his pace and almost every fan was excited to see such a fast bowler from India. Brett Lee said, “Umran can be a superstar in all formats of the game”.

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In the 2022 IPL season, Umran Malik was retained by SRH and regularly played throughout the season. He regularly picked up wickets and troubled batsmen thanks to his pace. He also made his international debut for India in India’s tour of Ireland, where he bowled only one over, conceding 14 runs. Malik has played 18 games for India in T20Is and ODI, playing his last game in India’s tour of the West Indies. He played in the 2nd ODI.

Although Malik has troubled batsmen with his pace, he has often been expensive throughout his career. In ODIs, his economy is 6.54 and in T20Is, his economy is 10.48. In the 2023 IPL, Umran Malik was expensive yet again. He played only 8 games, picking up 5 wickets with an average of 43.40. His economy was 10.85 after bowling 20 overs. Plenty of Indian pundits and ex-players have spoken out on how Umran needs to improve. Sehwag said “He’s doing the same mistakes“

When asked why the SRH Management had to drop Malik during IPL 2023, Lara defended the decision. He said, “You just have to look at the form of the player. We have great expectations of Umran, and he has got Dale Steyn to work with. But we have to play each game to win. We have to put our best eleven out on the field. And now, with the Impact Player, our best 12. It’s strictly on the fact that it’s about the form of the player that we look at before picking the team”

Also read: “World Cup wins don’t come on platter,” Rohit Sharma accepts Team India is desperate to win ODI World Cup

Brian Lara backs Umran Malik to become best-ever

Umran Malik
Umran Malik (Image via Crictoday)

The West Indies legend then backed the young pace sensation to become the best-ever but only if he learned a few tricks. Regarding Umran Malik, Brian Lara said, “He will be a sensation, but very quickly he will have to learn that fast bowling really does not trouble the best players in the world. You have to have the ability to do something with the ball”. He further said that Umran should work with ex-South African Pacer Dale Steyn to improve his bowling. 

Lara also says, “We have had so many different examples. Wasim Akram was raw pace, Malcolm Marshall had destructive pace, and Michael Holding. But they all know that at some point in time, they have had to come up with a lot more tricks than just being able to bowl fast. If Umran works with Dale Steyn, he could definitely be one of the best India could produce” 

With Umran’s selection in the upcoming ODI World Cup improbable, he still has months to improve and try his best to play in the 2024 T20I World Cup, which will be held in the United States of America and the West Indies.

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