As the Ind Vs SA tour kicks off, Indian Speedster Umran Malik will be among the most watched cricketer ahead of the T20I series against South Africa.
Umran, who played Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2022, rose as the fastest Indian and second fastest bowler in the league. The right-arm pacer picked 21 wickets in 14 matches and also won the ‘Emerging Player of the Year’ award of the season.
Riding on the success of IPL, Umran Malik got his maiden chance to play for team India.
Umran Malik revealed in an interview with BCCI that his coach at SRH, former South Africa pacer Dale Steyn had already told him that he will be in the India team after IPL 2022.
My goal is to give the best for team India – Umran Malik ahead of Ind Vs SA tour
“When I got selected for India, Dale Sir (Steyn) was with me in the team bus. We were going for the match. Everyone congratulated me and Dale sir said, ‘I told you before the IPL that you would get the India call-up after the season. And that’s exactly what happened, by the grace of God. My goal is to give my best for Team India now,” Umran told BCCI.
Umran will now be coached by legendary India cricketer Rahul Dravid. Rahul was appointed as the coach of the Indian men’s cricket team after the tenure of Ravi Shastri got over. Umran expressed that he was happy to meet his new coach.
“I was very happy to meet and talk with Rahul sir. He is such a legend of the game. He just told me to keep continuing what I do. Paras sir was also standing behind me and he was guiding me after every ball. It was giving me a lot of confidence,” he added.
Umran shared the dressing room with Kane Williamson and Bhuvneshwar Kumar during the IPL 2022 playing for SRH. Umran feels that a lot of credit also goes to both of them.
“A lot of credit also goes to Bhuvi Bhai, whenever I bowled, he used to stand at mid-off or mid-on. And also to the skipper Kane Williamson, he used to back me even if I went for runs.
When I used to bowl with the tennis ball, at that time, Shami Bhai, Bhuvi Bhai, and Bumrah used to bowl yorkers well. So, I used to just follow them,” Umran said.
India Vs SA – Hardik Pandya joins the training camp
In a press conference, #RahulDravid said he hadn’t gotten much time to chat with #HardikPandya who has joined the team training today having gotten an extra day off for the IPL Final. They caught up in the nets later.
Shreyas Iyer also had a long training session. The KKR captain, who had a forgettable IPL season, started with off drives and lofted hits down the ground against throw downs. He then switched to working on his pull shots with some close-up throw downs.
