A few days ago, Dale Steyn gave Advice to Umran Malik. In India’s maiden Twenty20 International against Sri Lanka at Wankhede Stadium, India’s new wild child Umran Malik set the speed gun on fire. His average speed was in the high 140s. He eventually produced a 155 kph delivery that bowled out Sri Lanka’s captain, Dasun Shanaka. Shanaka wasn’t harmed by the ball, as it didn’t come at him fast or hit him in the ribs. He tried to hit it past Yuzvendra Chahal at extra cover, but instead, he smacked it right into Chahal.
The 23-year-old is the son of a fruit vendor in Gujjar Nagar. He lives in a poor neighborhood in Jammu. He has a reputation for striking fear into the hearts of batsmen. Everybody thanks him for the time spent training under former South African pacer Dale Steyn with the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
While in Jammu following the conclusion of the last IPL season, Malik told Raman Thaploo, a cricketer from J&K who has followed Malik’s career closely, an interesting anecdote about what Steyn told him during Sunrisers’ final match.
During one chat, “Dale Steyn advised Umran, ‘You are born to ride a Ferrari, never switch to a Fiat,'” as related by Thaploo.
For batters, “Tom Moody and Muttiah Muralitharan’s instruction was to never compromise with his speed because it is his weapon by which he can terrorize them,” says Thaploo.
In his brief international experience (5 ODIs and 4 T20Is). Malik has taken the instructions to heart and brought that colorful spice to the Indian pace attack.
Tanmay Srivastava, the fielding coach for Jammu and Kashmir and a veteran of 90 first-class matches and India’s Under-19 team. He was shocked to see the wicketkeeper’s gloves wobble every time he gathered one of Malik’s deliveries.
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