Before their match against Gujarat Titans, Sunrisers Hyderabad posted a video on their social media account of Umran Malik talking about his IPL season. The soft-spoken 22-year-old fast bowler from Jammu and Kashmir admitted that he had been off radar at the start, but had begun to do well in the last few matches. He just wanted to keep extending his dream run, game by game.
By the end of his spell of 4-0-25-5 on Wednesday night, Malik had Wankhede Stadium on its feet, the ovation accompanied by chants of “Umran, Umran” and “Malik, Malik”.
And no, the spectators didn’t need the DJ to egg them on. They had been awed by the sheer speed of Malik shattering one set of stumps after the other. Four of his five victims were bowled, the fifth — Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya, no less — was too late on a bouncer.
As the fans exited the stadium, buzzing excitedly about the Srinagar-born son of a fruit-seller for whom 150 kph-plus deliveries are no longer a novelty, there was talk among pundits to fast-track him into the Indian team.
Sunil Gavaskar said Malik should be on the England tour later this month for the one-off Test. The hard-to-please former England batsman Kevin Pietersen was smiling and shaking his head. “I am going to be calling that India-England Test match, he better be playing that game,” he said.
But while the world got all excited, the player himself seemed unfazed, almost undermining his rare talent. At the post-match award ceremony, he was asked if he could clock 155 kph. “Uparwala dalva-de toh daal denge, Inshallah (I can if the Almighty wills it),” he said.
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