There are two schools of thought going around among fans and Indian cricket experts regarding young speed sensation Umran Malik.
One section is saying that Umran should not be near the Indian team at the moment unless he proves consistency and control over his bowling in domestic cricket and in the IPL, while the other section believes that Umran Malik should play as much international cricket as possible to learn the craft and art of fast bowling from the senior Indian bowlers.
Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar opined that Umran should feature in India’s Test team and should be given a backing there. Senior India pacer Ishant Sharma countered Manjrekar’s point, saying that the Jammu and Kashmir speedster has very little experience of first-class and cricket and he should first grind in the domestic circuit before donning the whites for India.
22-year-old Umran has featured in only 7 first-class matches so far, picking up 12 wickets.
Ishant Sharma says Umran Malik needs to gain a lot more experience in domestic cricket before playing Test cricket
During a discussion on JioCinema, for whom Former Indian Seamer is doing commentary in the ongoing India-West Indies Test series, the lanky seamer said: “When he has a good first-class record, he has the pace but consistency is a question mark. If you have to play him Test cricket for a long time, you need to give him a little time to do well in first-class cricket and then you can select him for Test cricket.”
Ishant added that it won’t be fair on those bowlers who have done well in domestic cricket over a period of time if Umran gets picked for Test team with little domestic experience.
“You won’t be fair to those who have performed in first-class cricket for so many years, picked up wickets for their team and for themselves so that they can play at a higher level. According to me, do justice to them first and then if Umran Malik also has a good record, you should definitely select him.”
Sanjay Manjrekar, though, is of the view that Malik should soon feature in the whites for India because of his high pace.
“I believe if you have to pick Umran (Malik), give him a chance in Test cricket because we saw when Mark Wood played the last Ashes Test, a guy who can bowl 90 miles per hour, his specialty is that the tail-enders don’t stay against him for long,” Manjrekar told News24 Sports.
“So, if you have to see Umran Malik, instead of white-ball cricket, if you have a Test series that is not that high-profile, give him a chance there, three-four over spells. So, he will be an X-factor in our bowling,” he added.
