When Umran Malik had burst into the scene in IPL 2021, all world cricket could talk about was his speed. A season later, when he clocked 157 kmph, during a match against Delhi Capitals, there weren't just requests from veterans and greats to include the youngster into the Indian team, comparison with Shoaib Akhtar had become. And with each of his notable performances, now with the Indian team, grows the discussion. But former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has given a rather blunt statement in comparing Umran with Akhtar while using a Sachin Tendulkar analogy.
Umran has consistently been clocking well over 150kmph. The most recent of those being in the T20I series against Sri Lanka where he dismissed captain Dasun Shanaka with a 155kmph thunderbolt that sent the stumps flying.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Salman, who was asked where Umran and Pakistan speedster Haris Rauf can break Akhtar's record, said that the two stand nowhere close to the legendary pacer's ability. The former Pakistan batter explained that with Akhtar having played all three formats and having consistently clocked well over 155 kmph, the two youngsters have not shown that “uniqueness” so far.
“As of now, they both are far from Shoaib's record. But again, records are meant to be broken. So who knows. But Shoaib used to play all the three formats and used to bowl long spells. He was just not fast, he was a clever bowler. He know how to dismiss batters, even in Test cricket. Even when he was 39 years of age, when he played his last game in India. he clocked 159. He could bowl that fast even with a six-step run up. The uniqueness that he carried, I don't see that in Umran or Haris. But they are both young so anything can happen. But I just want to remind that whom we are comparing with. It's like sating that if a batter scores hattrick of tons, then we say he might break Sachin's record. That's 100 centuries. People don't even play that many matches in their career. May be they can bowl one-two deliveries of that speed, but will they become that big a bowler only time will tell,” he explained.
{{/usCountry}}“As of now, they both are far from Shoaib's record. But again, records are meant to be broken. So who knows. But Shoaib used to play all the three formats and used to bowl long spells. He was just not fast, he was a clever bowler. He know how to dismiss batters, even in Test cricket. Even when he was 39 years of age, when he played his last game in India. he clocked 159. He could bowl that fast even with a six-step run up. The uniqueness that he carried, I don't see that in Umran or Haris. But they are both young so anything can happen. But I just want to remind that whom we are comparing with. It's like sating that if a batter scores hattrick of tons, then we say he might break Sachin's record. That's 100 centuries. People don't even play that many matches in their career. May be they can bowl one-two deliveries of that speed, but will they become that big a bowler only time will tell,” he explained.
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