“If Umran Malik was in Pakistan, maybe he would have played international cricket" : Kamran Akmal

[MenInG]

“If Umran Malik was in Pakistan, maybe he would have played international cricket" : Kamran Akmal

Rising Indian pacer Umran Malik has taken the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 by a storm with his raw pace. Competing with some of the finest pacers in world cricket, Malik has regularly clocked 150 kmph in the ongoing edition and has made headlines.

Cricket experts and pundits have been bowled over by his pace and he is also said to be in reckoning for a maiden national call-up.
Pakistani cricketer Kamran Akmal is also impressed by Malik's performance in IPL 2022 and he said that had Malik been in Pakistan, he would have played international cricket.

“If he was in Pakistan, maybe he would have played international cricket. His economy is high, but he is a strike bowler since he is getting wickets,” Akmal was quoted as saying.

“After every match, his speed chart comes where he clocks around 155 km/h and it’s not going down. It’s a good competition in the Indian team. Earlier, Indian cricket lacked quality fast bowlers, but now they have a plethora of pacers like Navdeep Saini, (Mohammed) Siraj, (Mohammed) Shami and (Jasprit) Bumrah."

https://www.timesnownews.com/sports...was-in-pakistan-kamran-akmal-article-91541816

 

[MenInG]

Too right Kamran Akmal - We would have had him opening bowling in all formats by now....

 

[cricketjoshila]

He is correct. And i doubt there will be a team which will not select the fastest bowler in the world in the team. But expect India to play Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvi type playerd.

 

[Hextro]

We'll never know.

 

[Shafi]

Yeah just like you play for any team in all formats and drops millions of catches & miss stamping. This should not be allowed to talk in front of media.

 

[MenInG]

Umran Malik should have been in the India ACC Asia Cup squad

 

[Major]

He is correct. And i doubt there will be a team which will not select the fastest bowler in the world in the team. But expect India to play Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvi type playerd.

Umran was not even near the fastest

 

[Maliq_Mudasir]

No, he wouldn't have been regular member of the team basis just 1 PSL season. May be 3-5 matches he would have played basis his pace and bounce, but not more than that. You can look at the guys like Hasnain and Rauf who continuously clicked 150+ in different league across the globe, but still they were picked after consistent performance in more than 1 PSL season, BBL, CPL etc.

Umran was overhyped due to faulty speedometer in IPL, even saw some social media post which claimed he clicked 163kph in practice session. The truth is he clicked 150kph just once in international match against Ireland and bowled around 145-147kph regularly.

The guy definitely has an ability to lead the fast bowling department for India but need to develop more control with line and length otherwise he will go Varun Aoran's way.

 

[cricketjoshila]

No, he wouldn't have been regular member of the team basis just 1 PSL season. May be 3-5 matches he would have played basis his pace and bounce, but not more than that. You can look at the guys like Hasnain and Rauf who continuously clicked 150+ in different league across the globe, but still they were picked after consistent performance in more than 1 PSL season, BBL, CPL etc.

Umran was overhyped due to faulty speedometer in IPL, even saw some social media post which claimed he clicked 163kph in practice session. The truth is he clicked 150kph just once in international match against Ireland and bowled around 145-147kph regularly.

The guy definitely has an ability to lead the fast bowling department for India but need to develop more control with line and length otherwise he will go Varun Aoran's way.

Who told you that the speed gun is faulty?

 

[cricketjoshila]

Umran Malik should have been in the India ACC Asia Cup squad

He should have been on the Zimbabwe tour.

But right now the selectors/team management have theory of playing avg bowlers who can bat.

Like Thakur Chahar Axar etc.

 

[Romali_rotti]

Too right Kamran Akmal - We would have had him opening bowling in all formats by now....

Absofrickenlutelty..

BCCi wants their trundlers bowling at all cost... Not saying Indian bowlers are bad but they need to have an express bowler like Umran to sprint up a surprise....

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Who told you that the speed gun is faulty?

Was the speed gun also faulty in Ireland? Can you please list out his bowling speeds in IPL and compare it with his speed in Ireland? He is fast but not super fast. I mean he is not like Lee or Akhtar at the moment.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

He should have been on the Zimbabwe tour.

But right now the selectors/team management have theory of playing avg bowlers who can bat.

Like Thakur Chahar Axar etc.

Selectors have a reason to select those trundlers. They saw how Umran bowled. He is not ready. He should play county cricket. Useless IPL will finish his career.

 

[giri26]

Umran Malik will surely play for India but he does need some more bowling time before he does. He surely is not ready. Just cannot play him because he can bowl fast. He has already made his international debut for India. He has only played 1 list A and 3 FC games. On his only List A game he went for almost 100 runs. He is surely not ready for international cricket. You cannot have someone picked just for pace going at 10-12 runs an over.

 

[cricketjoshila]

Umran Malik will surely play for India but he does need some more bowling time before he does. He surely is not ready. Just cannot play him because he can bowl fast. He has already made his international debut for India. He has only played 1 list A and 3 FC games. On his only List A game he went for almost 100 runs. He is surely not ready for international cricket. You cannot have someone picked just for pace going at 10-12 runs an over.

He hasn't got proper chances. A damn avg bowler like Shardul got more.

Its astonishing how Thakur keeps getting selected while the likes of Saini Kuldeep etc dont get a chance.

 

[Duckworth Lewis]

Not very promising. Might end up like Mohammed Sami.

 

[jnaveen1980]

He is not fully ready yet. But throwing him in the deep end is not a bad idea. India is trying to prepare a side with batsmen who can bowl, bowlers who can bat. chahal can't bat/field. Prasidh can't bat/field. Siraj can't bat/field. There is a reason why Jadeja is still part of the Indian T20 side despite having 14 useless years. Because he can do a bit of both.

 

[sweep_shot]

Has been quite a flop so far.

If he couldn't do well in Irish conditions (generally favor pacers) against Ireland, he is not ready for international cricket then.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Has been quite a flop so far.

If he couldn't do well in Irish conditions (generally favor pacers) against Ireland, he is not ready for international cricket then.

Umran became famous for bowling at 155 clicks. But he was bowling at 140 clicks against Ireland. That was a huge difference.

 

[sweep_shot]

Umran became famous for bowling at 155 clicks. But he was bowling at 140 clicks against Ireland. That was a huge difference.

140 is not slow though.

He is simply very bad with line and length currently. Needs to fix it first.

 

[Ab Fan]

The reason why Umran slowed down vs Ireland was because he was spraying all over down leg side at 150 when he started the first over, some nerves also would be there. Then he realised this is international stage and he can't keep doing this for 4 overs so to maintain more control, he reduced the speed.

Now that control will come up and he can maintain the speed of 150 too but the problem for him is what skills he has? Can he reverse the bowl like Naseem Shah? Does he have the durability to clock this speed in test cricket where he will have to bowl 6-7 overs on trott? even Naseem don't have that. But all these things will decide how things go for him in the coming time.

At present, he is way behind Naseem Shah who himself is a WIP in terms of development.

 

[arif_2021]

He hasn't got proper chances. A damn avg bowler like Shardul got more.

Its astonishing how Thakur keeps getting selected while the likes of Saini Kuldeep etc dont get a chance.

Because shardul thakur is perceived as a clutch player - and he is.
Surprising that you of all people would not know this.

 

[jnaveen1980]

140 is not slow though.

He is simply very bad with line and length currently. Needs to fix it first.

Surprisingly that is not true. For someone who bowled that quick managed to maintain line and length fairly decently. Besides you do not want "line and length" bowling from express bowlers. They are in for shock values. They may go for runs. But they can go bowl a match winning over out of nowhere.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

He hasn't got proper chances. A damn avg bowler like Shardul got more.

Its astonishing how Thakur keeps getting selected while the likes of Saini Kuldeep etc dont get a chance.

Here we go again lol. When we say the same thing about guys like Samson in LOIs, you and others remind us how Pant is backed based on his potential.

 

[jnaveen1980]

The reason why Umran slowed down vs Ireland was because he was spraying all over down leg side at 150 when he started the first over, some nerves also would be there. Then he realised this is international stage and he can't keep doing this for 4 overs so to maintain more control, he reduced the speed.

Now that control will come up and he can maintain the speed of 150 too but the problem for him is what skills he has? Can he reverse the bowl like Naseem Shah? Does he have the durability to clock this speed in test cricket where he will have to bowl 6-7 overs on trott? even Naseem don't have that. But all these things will decide how things go for him in the coming time.

At present, he is way behind Naseem Shah who himself is a WIP in terms of development.

He needs to develop one killer stock ball and add some skills like slower balls. Yorker or outswinger. These are great balls for someone who bowls at that pace. Right now he maintains the channel reasonably well. But he is not that tall. So he is not going to generate bounce. Will be mostly skiddy. So his wicket taking options have to come from full balls. Quiet often he can bowl length balls , half vollies in the process.

 

[IMMY69]

The reason why Umran slowed down vs Ireland was because he was spraying all over down leg side at 150 when he started the first over, some nerves also would be there. Then he realised this is international stage and he can't keep doing this for 4 overs so to maintain more control, he reduced the speed.

Now that control will come up and he can maintain the speed of 150 too but the problem for him is what skills he has? Can he reverse the bowl like Naseem Shah? Does he have the durability to clock this speed in test cricket where he will have to bowl 6-7 overs on trott? even Naseem don't have that. But all these things will decide how things go for him in the coming time.

At present, he is way behind Naseem Shah who himself is a WIP in terms of development.

But weren't you the one who said IPL is a big stage and players have improved playing in it?
What about the big pressure of playing IPL wonder cricket with packed wonderous crowds..

So from the biggest show on earth to playing a game against Ireland in a small ground with few spectators is actually bigger pressure then playing for a domestic league team?

Come one buddy let's hear it

 

[Mp812]

Here we go again lol. When we say the same thing about guys like Samson in LOIs, you and others remind us how Pant is backed based on his potential.

Samson is inconsistent as well.
Both Pant and Samson have potential and are inconsistent . However selectors probably feel Pant has higher potential so more chances.
Back in old days rohit sharma got lots of chances and armchair experts used to ask similar questions. However in the end selectors faith paid off.

They are 'paid real selectors' for a reason and not armchair selectors and critics like rest of us.

Having said that everyone is entitled to their opinion and if you feel sanju is better... its just bad luck for samson that you are not a paid selector

 

[cricketjoshila]

He is not fully ready yet. But throwing him in the deep end is not a bad idea. India is trying to prepare a side with batsmen who can bowl, bowlers who can bat. chahal can't bat/field. Prasidh can't bat/field. Siraj can't bat/field. There is a reason why Jadeja is still part of the Indian T20 side despite having 14 useless years. Because he can do a bit of both.

This is a recipe for disaster. Playing avg bowlers because they can bat.

 

[Ab Fan]

But weren't you the one who said IPL is a big stage and players have improved playing in it?
What about the big pressure of playing IPL wonder cricket with packed wonderous crowds..

So from the biggest show on earth to playing a game against Ireland in a small ground with few spectators is actually bigger pressure then playing for a domestic league team?

Come one buddy let's hear it

He didn't showed anything special in IPL. His economy was poor and those pitches that were prepared in IPL this year were fast and bouncy.

Ireland boundaries were much smaller than that. Even Naseem would have been smashed there and Babar would have hit sixes for fun on those boundaries as those were extremely small in size, something he is not capable of with a meagre strike rate of 129 overall.

Umran still needs time, he didn't prove anything in IPL. It is a misconception that he proved anything special there.

 

[giri26]

Umran Malik has already played international cricket, so this statement was before that and is not valid anymore. He played 3 T20Is and had an economy rate of 12.44. Which tells us that he is wayward. He did not even play against a strong opposition. So yes India will take their time to induct him into the LOI set up. Not need to hurry, he is just 22 and has hardly played any domestic cricket.

 

[Ab Fan]

Samson is inconsistent as well.
Both Pant and Samson have potential and are inconsistent . However selectors probably feel Pant has higher potential so more chances.
Back in old days rohit sharma got lots of chances and armchair experts used to ask similar questions. However in the end selectors faith paid off.

They are 'paid real selectors' for a reason and not armchair selectors and critics like rest of us.

Having said that everyone is entitled to their opinion and if you feel sanju is better... its just bad luck for samson that you are not a paid selector

Samson has himself to blame. When he got chances, he threw them away. In contrast, when Shreyas Iyer got those chances, he made them count fully. Samson for a full series in Australia and he failed to cross 10 run mark.

Then Suryakumar got his chance and he made it count with a bang on his debut game only. Samson has now started to perform but the opposition's are still Ireland, Zimbabwe and Windies only.

Pant is a proven performer in Tests and ODIs and will be backed without any questions. He is ahead of Shreyas and Kishan as well. Samson first need to get past those two and then only the discussion about Pant will come. At present, he is behind Iyer and Hooda unfortunately in the race .

 

[Punjab Kings]

If he would have been in Pakistan......He would have been an unknown name..... because Pakistan has the factory of fast bowlers......
Apart from Indian cricket i follow Pakistan cricket very keenly and i think there are dozens of bowlers in Pakistan who are yet to make their debut are far better than Hyped Umran Malik..

 

[cricketjoshila]

Umran Malik has already played international cricket, so this statement was before that and is not valid anymore. He played 3 T20Is and had an economy rate of 12.44. Which tells us that he is wayward. He did not even play against a strong opposition. So yes India will take their time to induct him into the LOI set up. Not need to hurry, he is just 22 and has hardly played any domestic cricket.

How many overs did he bowl? In the 2 T20IS that he bowled, both sides scored nearly 200 and all bowlers were smashed.

The team management wants trundlers who can bat. Thats why you see Thakur Chahar Axar keep getting chances.

 

[cricketjoshila]

If he would have been in Pakistan......He would have been an unknown name..... because Pakistan has the factory of fast bowlers......
Apart from Indian cricket i follow Pakistan cricket very keenly and i think there are dozens of bowlers in Pakistan who are yet to make their debut are far better than Hyped Umran Malik..

How many Pakistani fast bowlers have taken 200 plus test wickets in last 30 years?

 

[giri26]

How many Pakistani fast bowlers have taken 200 plus test wickets in last 30 years?

Only 3 Pakistan pacers have actually gotten to their mark in their entire history and we know who those 3 are. None after that.

 

[cricketjoshila]

Only 3 Pakistan pacers have actually gotten to their mark in their entire history and we know who those 3 are. None after that.

So where is the factory?

 

[giri26]

How many overs did he bowl? In the 2 T20IS that he bowled, both sides scored nearly 200 and all bowlers were smashed.

The team management wants trundlers who can bat. Thats why you see Thakur Chahar Axar keep getting chances.

To be frank his bowling has a consistent pattern in terms of economy rate. Yeah he did get a 5 wicket haul in IPL but his economy rate was over 9. I am all for Umran Malik in the national team. I surely want him to play for India in all three formats if possible but I feel this is too early. He might crash and burn if pushed to the deep end to never be considered again in the future. I would rather have him come in after some experience under his belt and get some control along with pace. It would be great for him to speak to someone like Brett Lee who bowled quick but had impeccable control.

 

[giri26]

So where is the factory?

Yeah the factory never existed. Just because they have at least one bowler making debut every few months does not make it a factory. The problem is that none of the bowlers actually last long enough to get to even 200 Test wickets. For all the flack India gets, we have produced more 200+ bowlers in our history than Pakistan. Shaheen Afridi is their new hope for 200 Test wickets, we will have to wait and see if he can get there. Long way to go though.

 

[Punjab Kings]

How many Pakistani fast bowlers have taken 200 plus test wickets in last 30 years?

Brother we all want a fast bowler to play for India.....
But sometimes give credit to opposition as well.... Pakistan cricket is strong in bowling department....the question why none of the Pakistani fast has taken 200 plus wickets currently.....? It is because they have a pool of fast bowlers...and they easily replace bowlers after some matches.... they don't stick to a particular bowler for long time because they have alternatives.... that's the reason why none of their fast bowler has 200 wickets currently....
Here in India we have no proper alternatives so we are bound to stick with a particular bowler....so more matches he will play chances are that he will take wickets....

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Samson is inconsistent as well.
Both Pant and Samson have potential and are inconsistent . However selectors probably feel Pant has higher potential so more chances.
Back in old days rohit sharma got lots of chances and armchair experts used to ask similar questions. However in the end selectors faith paid off.

They are 'paid real selectors' for a reason and not armchair selectors and critics like rest of us.

Having said that everyone is entitled to their opinion and if you feel sanju is better... its just bad luck for samson that you are not a paid selector

When did Samson get consistent chances like Pant lol? He keeps getting dropped after 1-2 matches. And look at the number of chances Pant has got in T20s. He has played more than 50 matches and still has average stats in that format. There are too many options available for that spot, he is easily replaceable in T20 cricket. Samson should also get consistent chances in ODIs.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Samson has himself to blame. When he got chances, he threw them away. In contrast, when Shreyas Iyer got those chances, he made them count fully. Samson for a full series in Australia and he failed to cross 10 run mark.

Then Suryakumar got his chance and he made it count with a bang on his debut game only. Samson has now started to perform but the opposition's are still Ireland, Zimbabwe and Windies only.

Pant is a proven performer in Tests and ODIs and will be backed without any questions. He is ahead of Shreyas and Kishan as well. Samson first need to get past those two and then only the discussion about Pant will come. At present, he is behind Iyer and Hooda unfortunately in the race .

Samson has played a grand total of 7 ODIs and he is averaging 44 with a strike rate of over 100 now. He deserves more chances now. He can easily play alongside Pant in the team in ODIs and replace him completely in T20s. Rohit is ageing, KL Rahul is inconsistent, Iyer is a bit of an on and off player, and Kohli is Kohli lol.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

How many Pakistani fast bowlers have taken 200 plus test wickets in last 30 years?

This is one of the stupidest question one can ask. How many fast bowlers played for Pakistan as compared to India? And how many wickets they took? They had plenty of bowlers so wickets were shared between them. They always had someone to take wickets and were never short of good fast bowlers. Come up with better questions at least.

 

[cricketjoshila]

Brother we all want a fast bowler to play for India.....
But sometimes give credit to opposition as well.... Pakistan cricket is strong in bowling department....the question why none of the Pakistani fast has taken 200 plus wickets currently.....? It is because they have a pool of fast bowlers...and they easily replace bowlers after some matches.... they don't stick to a particular bowler for long time because they have alternatives.... that's the reason why none of their fast bowler has 200 wickets currently....
Here in India we have no proper alternatives so we are bound to stick with a particular bowler....so more matches he will play chances are that he will take wickets....

If they had bowlers who would be good enough to take 200 test wickets, they would play them.

They didn't have one. Their bowlers came and went as they couldn't sustain their performances. Akhtar perhaps came close to it with 170 plus test wickets. After that it has been a revolving door. They come and they go. No body sustains.

Thats the long and short of it.

This is why no pakistani fast Bowler has taken 200 test wickets after the great waqar younis. And waqar made his debut in 1989 and retired in 2003.

 

[Champ_Pal]

Umran Malik is not ready for international cricket. He will be way down the pecking order if he were to play for Pakistan.

 

[TheNeutralist]

If they had bowlers who would be good enough to take 200 test wickets, they would play them.

They didn't have one. Their bowlers came and went as they couldn't sustain their performances. Akhtar perhaps came close to it with 170 plus test wickets. After that it has been a revolving door. They come and they go. No body sustains.

Thats the long and short of it.

This is why no pakistani fast Bowler has taken 200 test wickets after the great waqar younis. And waqar made his debut in 1989 and retired in 2003.

That is a surprising and shocking fact

 

[Ahmed216]

If they had bowlers who would be good enough to take 200 test wickets, they would play them.

They didn't have one. Their bowlers came and went as they couldn't sustain their performances. Akhtar perhaps came close to it with 170 plus test wickets. After that it has been a revolving door. They come and they go. No body sustains.

Thats the long and short of it.

This is why no pakistani fast Bowler has taken 200 test wickets after the great waqar younis. And waqar made his debut in 1989 and retired in 2003.

Mohd asif and amir would surely have taken more than 200

 

[Mp812]

He is pacey all right. Gotta give him that. But in the international games he played he has been erratic. In white ball cricket line length and variations matter more than pace. Arshdeep and harshal patel and even deepak chahar have all proved they have all those

 

[cricketjoshila]

Mohd asif and amir would surely have taken more than 200

Amir has played and then left the game. He isn't interested in the game, but only money.

 

[cricketjoshila]

He is pacey all right. Gotta give him that. But in the international games he played he has been erratic. In white ball cricket line length and variations matter more than pace. Arshdeep and harshal patel and even deepak chahar have all proved they have all those

Arshdeep i understand. But Deepak Chahar is worth only 4 overs and that too with the new ball. After that he is useless.

 

[Ab Fan]

Arshdeep i understand. But Deepak Chahar is worth only 4 overs and that too with the new ball. After that he is useless.

Deepak Chahar is a bowling all rounder and on his day, he can turn the game with 3 overs of new bowl itself, he has the skills to pick 3-4 wickets upfront only when at its best.

Harshal Patel is proven in UAE. He should do well in Asia but outside Asia, he is unproven. But he is also a competent 10-15 run hitter and can play at 8 and bowl in death overs. Talking about T20s.

Umran Malik needs some more time. He can become an enforcer and I feel he will be an excellent death over bowler if he can learn to bowl the yorkers and outside off line with that pace with control. But that needs some time.

 

[Ab Fan]

Samson has played a grand total of 7 ODIs and he is averaging 44 with a strike rate of over 100 now. He deserves more chances now. He can easily play alongside Pant in the team in ODIs and replace him completely in T20s. Rohit is ageing, KL Rahul is inconsistent, Iyer is a bit of an on and off player, and Kohli is Kohli lol.

Remove Zimbabwe and Ireland. Rahul averages 45 in ODIs and 40 in T20sz that's inconsistent?

Iyer is also a good ODI batsman, has a good game awareness and seems to be working on his weakness.

Btw, fake Samson fan just spotted

 

[Ab Fan]

If they had bowlers who would be good enough to take 200 test wickets, they would play them.

They didn't have one. Their bowlers came and went as they couldn't sustain their performances. Akhtar perhaps came close to it with 170 plus test wickets. After that it has been a revolving door. They come and they go. No body sustains.

Thats the long and short of it.

This is why no pakistani fast Bowler has taken 200 test wickets after the great waqar younis. And waqar made his debut in 1989 and retired in 2003.

Agreed with this completely.

Windies had 7-8 great fast bowlers in 80s yet all of Marshall, Garner, Roberts and Holding crossed 200 wickets.

200 is a nothing landmark, it is just a simple minimum criteria for proving your greatness as a bowler by having played that many games especially in the modern era.

 

[cricketjoshila]

Deepak Chahar is a bowling all rounder and on his day, he can turn the game with 3 overs of new bowl itself, he has the skills to pick 3-4 wickets upfront only when at its best.

Harshal Patel is proven in UAE. He should do well in Asia but outside Asia, he is unproven. But he is also a competent 10-15 run hitter and can play at 8 and bowl in death overs. Talking about T20s.

Umran Malik needs some more time. He can become an enforcer and I feel he will be an excellent death over bowler if he can learn to bowl the yorkers and outside off line with that pace with control. But that needs some time.

As i said, Chahar is worth 4 overs with the new ball. Thats it. And he is no AR. He is like Thakur.

Rest i agree with your post.