‘Central contract for Umran Malik straightaway. Don’t let him go astray': Ravi Shastri's message to BCCI

Ravi Shastri advised the BCCI to keep Umran Malik in the mix and let him learn from the main players Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. His comments came after Malik displayed another impressive performance for SRH in an IPL 2022 match against the Mumbai Indians on Tuesday.

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri demanded a central contract "straightaway" for Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer Umran Malik. Shastri advised the BCCI to keep Malik in the mix and let him learn from the main players Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. The former India all-rounder's comments came after Malik displayed another impressive performance for SRH in an IPL 2022 match against the Mumbai Indians on Tuesday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Umran Malik of Sunrisers Hyderabad(PTI)

"Central contract straightaway for him (Umran Malik). Don't let him float around, keep him in the mix with the main players and let him learn by being around the Shamis and bumrahs and see the way they train, the way they manage their workload but don't let him go astray," Shastri told ESPNCricinfo.

Malik leaked runs in his first over of the match but in his second spell, he made a telling impact on the match by getting the wickets of Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma and Daniel Sams. Malik used his biggest strength - pace - to rattle the MI batters. He first bowled at the body of Ishan Kishan, cramped him for room and got him out caught in the deep. The right-arm seamer then dismissed Varma and Sams with identical deliveries that were banged in short and were aimed at the body. Both Varma and Sams were hurried onto their shots and ended up giving simple catches in the inner circle.

Malik returned with figures of 3/23 in his 3 overs in the match which SRH won by 3 runs.

Shastri said Malik needs to get more consistent with his lines and attack the stumps more without reducing his pace. "Just tell him to do what he does best. Bowl fast... Also educate him on the lines you've got to bowl. Tell him to focus on those three stumps. You get that right first. After that, you can try and learn whatever other skills you want to add. And I promise you this guy is gonna be a handful in red-ball cricket. If you add this guy to Bumrah and Shami I think the Indian attack is going to be a serious one.

"I think he'll get better and better. Look at the lines he is bowling now. You don't want him to cut down on pace. The last thing you'd want to tell him is while looking for control you cut down on pace. What you want him to do is get his lines right. If he can attack the stumps consistently varying his length, he will trouble anyone. And he can really rattle a new guy coming in because he's got the pace, he can keep the batter on his toes but it's that line if he can hit the right areas without reducing his pace, it'll make a huge difference," Shastri added.

Malik, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, is currently the fourth-highest wicket-taker of IPL 2022 with 21 scalps to his name 13 matches. He has also bowled the fastest delivery of the tournament at 157 km/h and many believe, he has the ability to better that.

Former New Zealand Daniel Vettori said he is harder for any new batsmen because of his raw pace.

"The more erratic he is, the harder he is to face. That unsettles the batsmen, particularly at that pace. The batsman has so much to deal with. And when he gets that first wicket, it's so much harder for a new batsman. That's why everybody gets so excited with pace because pace to a new batsman in very difficult," he said.