Umran was very predictable, neither did he bowl yorkers nor the slower ones: Salman Butt

Umran Malik had a mixed performance against Sri Lanka on Thursday in the second T20I of the series. The speedster took three wickets in his four overs spell but also gave away 48 runs as the visitors amassed a massive 206/6 in Pune. India ultimately lost the game by 16 runs, however, after the game, former cricketers praised Umran for his dismissals, particularly for his incredible speed.

He bowled a 147 kmph delivery and clocked one at 140 kph in two of his three dismissals. Salman Butt, a former captain of Pakistan, contends that if Umran is to thrive in international cricket, he must increase the variety of his weaponry. Butt claimed that Umran lacks experience and was predictable as a rookie pacer in the second game of the series.

“You get better with experience. He conceded so many runs because he lacked experience. He was in good rhythm, his action is neat. His pace was right up there. The problem was that the batter was experienced, more intelligent, and he used Umran's pace very well. Umran was very predictable, neither did he bowl yorkers nor the slower ones,” Butt was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

You won't get experience while sitting outside: Butt

Young players like Shivam Mavi, Umran Malik, Shubman Gill, and Rahul Tripathi are part of India's new-look team. In the past two games, three players, namely Gill, Mavi, and Tripathi, made their respective debuts.

In the absence of the senior players, Hardik Pandya is leading a relatively inexperienced team, which defeated the Asian champions by a close margin of two runs in the first T20I. After two games, Malik is currently the leading wicket-taker in the series with five scalps to his name and has not gone wicketless in either of the games.

“He saw that the batsman was making room for himself, he could have bowled the yorkers outside the off-stump. He didn't do that too. So, experience matters. And you won't get experience while sitting outside. You have to let him play. Because he will take wickets and win you the matches from crunch situations,” he added.