Umran Malik has been making headlines in the IPL much before the actual tournament started. At first, he raised quite an eyebrows when he was retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad as one of the three retentions. This came from a side, who parted with T20 stalwarts like David Warner, Johnny Bairstow, Rashid Khan and Jason Holder in a single season.
Umran Malik is currently 22. He is bowling fast, rattling the batsmen with his raw pace and is even getting them out. He even recorded the quickest ball bowled in IPL when one of his deliveries clocked a whopping 157 kmph. His ability to bowl quick consistently has made him a hot property in Indian cricket. Such has been his impact that the Indian fans want him to pair up with Jasprit Bumrah in India's T20 lineup and going by the way his career has progressed, it is just a matter of time before we see Umran Malik donning the Indian jersey as well.
So is Umran Malik ready for International cricket or is World cricket ready to witness the pace storm from Umran Malik?
If we dwell into cricket's pace bowlers history, we will see that there have many such instances when a fast bowler who impressed with his pace in the domestic circuit have fizzled out in international cricket owing to the higher cricketing standards in the later. Also there have been many fast bowlers who succumbed to injury due to the stress fracture and when they made a comeback they were never the same bowler they once were.
Keep him fresh: One of the first and foremost thing that BCCI and the selectors must ensure is to balance the workload of Umran Malik. The BCCI must ensure not to list his name in every series that India plays and should also take care of his training and monitor his performance regularly. The selectors must ensure that he doesn't get injury prone in the process.
Unleash him in SENA countries: Umran Malik has been consistently bowling in the 150s in Indian subcontinent pitches which are lot slower with less bounce. A lot of cricket experts believe that his true potential could be utilised only in overseas conditions where the pitches are hard and offers extra bounce. So instead of playing in every Paytm T20 series , the selectors must use him wiesly in Overseas tours. Remember the T20 World Cup is in Australia this year and a bowler with 150+ kmph speed can really make a difference.
Do not fast track him to ODI and Test Cricket: One of the major problems in Indian Cricket culture is to see every player as an all format cricketer. Also our tendency to spoil fast bowlers before they reach their peak has caused a dearth in the express pace bowler department over the years. Umran Malik has just bowled well in the IPL and that by no means gurantee his automatic selection in India's ODI and Test setup where the dynamics as well as the line and length are different.
Do not ask him to change his natural instinct: Over the past years we have seen that many fast bowlers have been asked to focus on the line and length at the expense of their pace and the selectors must ensure that the same doesn't happen to Umran Malik. Bowling quick has been Umran's usp and it has been his strength as well as his stock ball. Also we can see in IPL that he is developing a slower ball as a change up. The selectors should let Umran bowl quick and keep it simple instead of trying out different things at a time.
Keep a mentor in hand: One of the major credit of Umran's success in IPL should be given to SRH's fast bowling mentor the one and only Dale Steyn. Steyn who was known for his raw pace and swing during his playing days could be seen monitoring the bowling of every pacer in the SRH franchise. Also his valuable inputs has made SRH pacers a lethal bowling unit in the IPL. BCCI is undoubtedly the richest the cricket board in the world and hiring a mentor for the Umran Malik and other 'quick' bowlers is not a huge ask. So BCCI must take a leaf out of the IPL franchise's diaries and attach a mentor for Umran Malik.
India is soon to announce the squad for the T20 series against South Africa soon and Umran Malik is one of the probables to make it to the T20 squad. So if all goes well, we might get to see the glimpse of Umran Malik tormenting the batsmen of world cricket anytime soon.
Disclaimer: This article is solely for Educational Purpose. This game involves element of financial risk and can be addictive. Please play responsibly and at you own risk.