Umran Malik must not compromise on accuracy for pace; needs to think of his body: Mohammad Azharuddin

Since its inception in 2008, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has turned out to be a platform for young talents to showcase their talent and gain the much-needed experience before going to the international level. In this season, a few of the key performers for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have been Abhishek Sharma and Umran Malik. Recently, former Indian cricketers Deep Dasgupta and Mohammad Azharuddin opined on the performances of both the players.

Dasgupta said that he has been seeing Abhishek from the U19 World Cup 2018, and the youngster’s bat flow is quite pleasing to his eyes. He added that he has certainly improved his performance this season. Dasgupta added that the southpaw is a useful spinner as well and should be given an opportunity in the last few matches. Meanwhile, Abhishek was dismissed for nine off 10 deliveries against Mumbai Indians (MI).

“He has impressive stats in this season. I have seen him in U-19 as well. You can see his bat flow, which is so pleasing to the eyes. It was disappointing that he could not do well in the last three seasons, but his role has been changed this year,” said Dasgupta on Sky247.net presents ‘Not Just Cricket’ Show on CricTracker.

“I would like to see him with the ball as well, as he is a useful left-arm spinner. But for the first season, it seems as if he is converting talent to performances, which is great,” he added.

‘You cannot go for pace every time’ – Mohammad Azharuddin on Umran Malik

Meanwhile, former cricketer Azharuddin said that the cricket fraternity and fans wants the pacer Umran Malik to cross the 160 kph mark, but he urged the pacer to think about his body. He added that Malik has been expensive in the last few matches due to his mindset to bowl express pace. The former cricketer advised that the youngster should rather think to maintain accuracy.

“Umran Malik is a young talented bowler and everybody is wanting him to cross the 160 kph mark. But it’s not easy to bowl at such a pace; he should think about his body. If you are bowling at the same speed in a consistent manner, the batters get used to your pace, which is seen in his performance, where is going for plenty (of runs). You cannot go for pace every time. He needs to maintain accuracy,” said Azharuddin.