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'I jumped into Murali...': Dale Steyn reveals extraordinary story behind celebrating Umran Malik yorker to Shreyas Iyer
Umran Malik's yorker that cleaned up KKR captain Shreyas Iyer sparked a big celebration in the SRH dugout. After the match, which SRH won comfortably by 7 wickets, Steyn revealed the extraordinary story behind their celebration.
Dale Steyn and Muttiah Muralitharan jumping from their seats, and hugging each other was one of the most heartwarming scenes during the IPL 2022 match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. The reason behind the two legendary cricketers' inhibition-free reaction was Umran Malik's yorker that cleaned up KKR captain Shreyas Iyer on Friday. After the match, which SRH won comfortably by 7 wickets, Steyn revealed the extraordinary story behind their celebration.
The former South Africa speedster who is part of the SRH support staff said it was Muralitharan who said that a yorker would be the 'perfect ball' to bowl to Iyer at the point as the right-hander was backing away. Steyn and SRH head coach Tom Moody, however, believed otherwise. They thought Iyer would smash Malik over his head if he goes for the yorker.
But as it turned out Malik nailed the perfect yorker and hit the bulls eye sparking a heartening celebration between Steyn and Muralitharan in the SRH dugout.
"I'm not going to lie to you. Sometimes, the players' genius comes out. Murali (Muttiah Muralitharan) actually said that he thinks the perfect ball to bowl right now is a yorker. Tom (Moody) and I turned around and said, 'no, if he bowls a yorker now, he is going to be hit for a four over his head'. He runs in, bowls a yorker, and knocks the stumps out of the ground! So, honestly, what do I know?" Steyn said after the match.
South Africa's all-time highest wicket-taker said he jumped onto Muralitharan for that 'amazing call'.
"The genius is in the players, guys. They have to do what they have to do, and when they have to do it I just jumped into Murali! I was like, "you are a spin bowling coach and now you are making these amazing calls," Steyn added.
The incident transpired in the 10th over of the KKR innings. Umran Malik had just bowled a back of a length delivery at pace which evaded Iyer's attempted ramp shot over thirdman. The fact that the KKR captain had backed away, exposing all his stumps, made Malik go for the yorker in the next delivery. Iyer, expecting another short one, backed away again and was late to bring his bat down in time.
Umran Malik has been one of the most impressive young seamers going around in this IPL. His raw pace and ability to hurry even the best of the batters in the business have been talked about whenever the SRH youngster takes the field.
Before the match, Steyn had revealed that the only advice he gives to Malik is to never compromise on pace.
