Former India pacer Zaheer Khan feels the upcoming series against New Zealand will be crucial for young pacer Umran Malik as it is going to help him to grow. Umran was backed by many former cricketers to get picked for the 2022 T20 World Cup squad but the selectors have different thoughts. The young pacer had a breakthrough season in IPL this year as he claimed 22 wickets in 14 matches and won the Emerging Player of the Year award.
The Jammu and Kashmir pacer has the ability to clock 150 kmph at regular intervals as he troubled the batters in IPL with his raw pace. He made his international debut earlier this year on Ireland tour and now has been recalled for the New Zealand tour.
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Team India has to rebuild a new structure for the next T20 World Cup and they will need a young bunch of bowlers for the mega event as they had a disappointing exit from the recently concluded T20 WC where they suffered a 10-wicket defeat in the semifinal.
Zaheer feels that India need variety in the pace attack to match with other big teams in the world. While he pointed out that Umran is a very exciting talent and he has to grab the opportunity in the upcoming series.
“The variety in your pace attack is a must and you have seen teams following that kind of pattern. You need a left-arm bowler, you need someone who can swing the ball, you need someone who is an out-and-out fast bowler. If everything is in one package, then even better but if not, you would like to use the variety in your attack in the bowling lineup and use different conditions well. Umran has been a very exciting talent and this kind of exposure is definitely going to help him, it is about how he takes things forward if he wants to grab the spot consistently,” Zaheer told a select group of journalists during a call organised by Prime Video.
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Shastri feels that India missed the trick by not including Umran in the World Cup squad as according to him there is no substitute for genuine pace.
“He is one of the fastest bowlers in India and you saw what happened in the World Cup where genuine pace rattled opposition, whether it was Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, and Anrich Nortje. So, there is no substitute for genuine pace. Even if you are defending small totals, so this is an opportunity for Umran, hopefully, he will learn from this exposure,” he said.
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