Umran Malik needs to play state cricket with proper structure, we need to guide him: Paras Mhambrey

Former India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey wants Umran Malik to change his state and play domestic cricket more frequently. The pace sensation was the talk of the town during IPL 2022, in which he picked up 22 wickets in 14 matches and finished as the fourth-leading wicket-taker of the tournament. The future was looking bright for the youngster as he was expected to travel with the Indian team for the T20 World Cup in Australia, but that didn’t happen.

He also failed to get into the first team of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the following seasons. It only complicated his journey as the ace pacer is now far away from international cricket. Mhambrey believes that Umran needs guidance and Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) is not the right place for his development. His recent appearances in the Ranji Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy (SMAT) are also concerning, which is why Mhambrey proposed him to change his state.

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“I won’t say disappointed, but someone like Umran (Malik). We need to guide him. He needs to play for a state which has proper structure. Unfortunately, he is playing for a state where there is no proper structure. Playing for a state with a proper structure, playing a lot of cricket will definitely help him. We need someone to make that call for him and make sure that he plays for a state where he plays a lot of cricket,” Mhambrey told Sportstar.

“He has the potential, a quick guy who can bowl in the mid-140s consistently, but someone to guide him at this stage and saying, okay, fine, just play cricket and how do we take this, take his game forward,” he added.

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Umran represented India in 10 ODIs and eight T20Is in which he picked up 13 and 11 wickets respectively. The upcoming domestic season will be key for him as the pacer would hope for a good bid during the IPL auction.