Taking A Cue From This Pakistan Pacer? Lahore Qalandars Owner’s Interesting Observation On Umran Malik

Speedster Umran Malik’s rise has been pretty meteoric in Indian cricket. He got a chance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise SunRisers Hyderabad in 2021 before he made his First-Class debut for Jammu and Kashmir. His fiery pace impressed all as he was retained by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2022 season. He has repaid the faith by taking 10 wickets in seven matches. However, more than his number of wickets, it is Malik’s express pace that has forced everyone to stand up and take note of the 22-year-old.

So far, he has clocked over 150 kmph multiple times. In the match against Gujarat Titans, he clocked 153.3 kmph off a delivery against Abhinav Manohar. It is the fastest delivery of the IPL 2022 so far. Reportedly, he might also soon get a senior India call-up with the team about to play a number of T20Is after the IPL 2022 ends.

His rise has prompted Sameen Rana, owner of Pakistan Super League franchise Lahore Qalandars, to compare him with fast bowler Haris Rauf. Like Malik, Rauf too did not have a background in First-class cricket before he broke onto the international scene.

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“I am very happy that Lahore Qalandars have not just impressed Pakistan cricket but also Indian cricket. If you look at Umran Malik’s story, you will see that it has been a Haris Rauf-inspired story. Maybe they had followed Haris’ story and must have thought if it can happen in Pakistan, then why not in India. Because there are a lot of similarities. Both started from white-ball cricket, are from Jammu and Kashmir, no background in first-class cricket,” Rana told paktv.tv in an interview.

“I have never seen that happen in IPL before. And it happened until Haris, who became a success and gave others a new pathway. I hope it doesn’t happen to Umran, but we were criticised a lot when Haris was in our team that we killed domestic cricket and affected the sport. But today, he is Pakistan’s pride. When he goes abroad and plays for teams like Yorkshire, they call him ‘Pakistani superstar’. So we have given cricketers a new pathway and I want to take credit for that.”