Umran Malik 'fully focused' on Duleep Trophy after dengue recovery

Young Indian pacer Umran Malik has expressed his eagerness to do well in the impending Duleep Trophy 2024 after recovering from a bout of dengue. The Duleep Trophy is set to begin from September 5 in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh and M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, with four teams - Team A, Team B, Team C, and Team D - set to compete in the historic red-ball tournament.

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Malik has been named in Team C, which will be captained by Ruturaj Gaikwad. India T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav, Sai Sudharsan, and Rajat Patidar are some other prominent faces in the team. The 24-year-old speedster opened up on his preparation for the domestic tournament.

“I am feeling better and now I am fully focused on the preparation of the Duleep trophy at NCA. I hope, I will be doing good in this season for my team,” Malik was quoted as saying by India Today.

Malik made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut in 2021 but only played three games. However, he made heads turn with his ability to clock speeds over 150 kph with consummate ease. In the 2022 season of the cash-rich league, he played 14 games and bagged an impressive 22 wickets at 20.18. He was fast-tracked into the Indian T20I side during the tour of Ireland in 2022 and subsequently made his ODI debut later that year against New Zealand.

He has picked up 13 wickets from 10 ODIs at an average of 30.69 and 11 wickets from eight T20Is at 22.09. However, his last international appearance came in July 2023 as his performances spiralled downwards considerably. The right-arm pacer didn’t have a great outing in the previous domestic season picking just four wickets from five matches at an average of 38.50 in the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 for Jammu & Kashmir.

In the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament last year, he couldn't make much of an impact, managing only six wickets from seven matches at an average of 35.83 and an economy of 8.26. Malik was abysmal in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he went wicketless in the only game he played, giving away 68 runs from eight overs.

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In the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024), he played just one game and leaked 15 runs in the solitary over. With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy set to take place in Australia later this year, the youngster's pace and bounce could come in handy for India. However, he will have to put in some consistent performances in the domestic circuit to muster a comeback to the national setup.