'He just played into the hands of the opposition' - Ravi Shastri criticises Umran Malik's bowling approach against Delhi Capitals

Former India coach Ravi Shastri criticised Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) pacer Umran Malik’s bowling approach against Delhi Capitals (DC) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday, April 29 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Umran had a disappointing outing against DC, bowling only one over and conceding 22 runs. However, SRH registered a nine-run win over DC and bagged two crucial points.

The pacer has been struggling this season and the SRH captain Aiden Markram is also not convinced of his skill levels. In the seventh over of the encounter against DC, the Jammu and Kashmir speedster was introduced into the attack.

He began with a short ball and opener Phil Salt scored a boundary. The second ball resulted in a single while Mitchell Marsh smashed the third ball and the fourth ball for a six. He then took a single on the fifth ball and Salt finished the over with a four.

Shastri criticised Umran, stating that he just played into the hands of the opposition. The cricketer-turned-commentator slammed him for not altering his length after getting hammered. He added that if someone comes through a situation like this he can go cross seam and full into the stumps.

“He just played into the hands of the opposition. He needs someone like a Bhuvneshwar Kumar next to him telling him what exactly needs to be done. You can still go for runs but you need to alter the length. You come out there bowl four deliveries, all same length, wrong line and he has gone for 17 runs already. He can even try cross seam. In a situation like this when you don’t have the confidence and you don’t know where it is going, go cross seam and full and into the stumps," the 60-year-old said during commentary.

What Umran Malik is doing here is not good: Pietersen 

Former England captain Kevin Pietersen also criticised Umran's approach against the DC batters. He felt that the pacer should have slowed down once Mitchell Marsh had started going after him.

“I am not a bowler but sitting in the dressing room, our bowlers - the Broads and the Andersons - have all watched what the opposition did. They were always thinking and talking about what the opposition was doing. That is the learning gear.

"He should have understood what Mitch Marsh did with great success. What Umran Malik is doing here is not good. Take the pace off! It was completely wrong. Every single delivery was on speed again. Where were all of Mitch Marsh’s wickets? All were slower balls and leg cutters. It is really not that difficult to understand someone else from the opposition did which was successful," Pietersen said.