Speedster Umran Malik’s fresh chance to impress

Technically, this year’s IPL was Malik’s third season — he played three matches for SRH in 2021 — but it was in 2022 that the 23-year-old from Jammu and Kashmir really burst on the scene as a pacer of promise with 22 scalps in 14 matches.

Malik floundered in building on that promise this season. He only featured in eight games in a season where the team finished bottom of the table, taking five wickets at an economy of 10.85. Dig deeper into the numbers and you will find that Malik completed his full quota of overs in only one game. He went wicketless in his last four matches and took more than one wicket in a game just once — 2/32 in four overs against Punjab Kings.

It is against this backdrop that Malik has been picked in India’s ODI squad for the away series against West Indies from July 27 to August 1. The selection is clearly a punt on his pace and wicket-taking ability, one that SRH resisted for a large chunk of the latest season.

When the season neared its end, questions began being raised on SRH’s handling of the fast bowler. Because Malik has all the tools to be a genuine star. He clocks over 150kph without fuss, breaks toes and stumps with a deadly yorker and wears a boyish smile all along. But the SRH management, led by coach Brian Lara, clearly had their problems with Malik.

“You just have to look at the form of the player. We have great expectations of Umran, and he has got Dale Steyn to work with. But we have to play each game to win,” Lara had said during SRH’s losing run. “We have to put our best eleven out on the field. And now, with the Impact Player, our best 12. It’s strictly on the fact that it’s about the form of the player that we look at before picking the team.”

Consequently, Malik’s confidence took a beating. “Last year, I played all the matches and had overs under my belt,” Malik told the broadcaster before playing SRH’s final game of the season against Mumbai Indians. “This time, I didn’t play as many games. When you bowl only two overs, it’s not easy to load up and bowl at full pace consistently.”

Though Malik didn’t register the record-breaking speeds of 2022 — a 157kph delivery was the fastest that season — a lack of shrewdness in hitting the right areas was more worrying. A game against Delhi Capitals at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground summed it up. He bowled just one over and leaked 22 runs, banging the ball short to Mitchell Marsh for two consecutive sixes. He was up against an Australian bred on the bouncy surfaces of Perth, and yet seemed stubborn in sticking to that shorter length.

The short ball is always a useful weapon for a fast bowler, but Malik will hopefully learn that he cannot just rely on extreme pace, especially at the highest level. “Just thinking it is pace, pace and pace. I got to come in and bang it. (Malik) should also be told that at 150 (kph), the ball can disappear at 250 (kph) off the bat,” former India coach Ravi Shastri told ESPNcricinfo.

This isn’t to suggest that Malik should cut down on pace. Given the paucity of his ilk in Indian cricket, his ability to rush batters is clearly a gift worth preserving. With it, though, arises the need to add more nuance. “He is young and he’s learning. He hasn't played much domestic cricket,” says former Jammu and Kashmir fielding coach Tanmay Srivastava. “The X-factor he has is hard to find in India. That’s why the Indian selectors are backing him. He’s still raw but I haven’t seen a bowler this quick. As he plays more and more, he will learn that his length also can be better.”

The ODI series against West Indies is an opportunity for Malik to show that he’s maturing. Otherwise, on the slow pitches one is likely to find in the Caribbean, his extra pace is something Windies batters weaned on pace and bounce will relish.