Umran Malik was sensational for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League 2022. The young pace sensation took 22 wickets and was declared the Emerging Player of the Season.
He was also rewarded with a place in the Indian team for the T20I series against South Africa but was not included in the Playing XI. India’s head coach Rahul Dravid and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly recently spoke about the debut of Umran and Arshdeep Singh.
While Dravid said that team would prefer players who have been a part of the team in the previous series, Ganguly disclosed that India would end experiments after the Ireland tour.
Meanwhile, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who was a part of the T20 World Cup triumph in 2007, is against the idea of keeping Umran on the bench or leaving him out after the two-match T20I series in Ireland.
“He hasn’t played. First, make him debut and see how he goes. If you give him a debut and he doesn’t perform well, dont leave him aside,” he said.
“We never had a bowler who bowls at 150 kmph consistently. You can’t teach anyone to bowl fast. First, include him in the playing XI, and if he performs well, take him forward.”