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Cricket Players'When I first saw him bowl he reminded me of great Waqar Younis': India legend reserves highest praise for Umran Malik
Umran had become the cynosure during Sunrisers Hyderabad's match against Kolkata Knight Riders after he clever set up in the dismissal of KKR captain Shreyas Iyer
Umran Malik has been the talk of Indian Premier League (2022) with his searing pace, clocking over 150 kmph and with having registered all the top five fastest deliveries this season. He had also become the cynosure during Sunrisers Hyderabad's match against Kolkata Knight Riders after he clever set up in the dismissal of KKR captain Shreyas Iyer. And ahead of the match against Punjab Kings, India legend Irfan Pathan recalled when he first saw the youngster at the Jammu and Kashmir team camp.
Speaking on Star Sports ahead of the PBKS game, Irfan revealed that Umran reminded him of Pakistan pace great Waqar Younis.
“The first time I saw him bowl was when I was playing for Jammu and Kashmir and I was the mentor. And watching him bowl reminded me of the great Waqar Younis,” he said.
Malik was part of the Jammu and Kashmir cricket team where Irfan was the player and mentor and was roped in by SRH in 2021 as replacement for T Natarajan, who was suffering from Covid-19. The then 21-year-old had only played two First-Class games, one T20 and one List A game for his state, but had taken IPL by storm with his pace with leaving even Virat Kohli and former India head coach Ravi Shastri immensely impressed.
"Umran is fantastic. It (his performances) is no reflection of me at all. It's all him at the moment. He has got amazing skills, he is showing everybody, bowling 150 kph. I am kind of living through him, wishing I could do it. But it's all him at the moment. He is certainly somebody whom we should keep an eye on for the future," Legendary South African fast bowler Dale Steyn, who is the SRH bowling coach, said after the KKR game.
