On Sunday, India’s Board of Control for Cricket named the T20I squad for the forthcoming five-match series against South Africa. Umran Malik, the fastest bowler in the IPL 2022, has been called up for the first time following a stellar season in the cash-rich competition. Malik has 21 wickets at an economy rate of 8.94 in 13 matches so far. Umran became the youngest bowler in IPL history to take more than 20 wickets in a single season.
We’ll go through five reasons why Umran Malik was chosen for Team India in this article.
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1. Only bowler with a 155+ average.
Umran Malik hit 157 kph in the IPL 2022 match against Delhi Capitals. He is India’s sole bowler who can consistently bowl at this pace. Many cricket experts believe Umran needs to be developed into a devastating force in Indian cricket. He was selected for the South Africa series by the BCCI so that he could rub shoulders with veteran pacers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar and get a feel for international cricket.
2. Australia will host the ICC T20 World Cup in 2022.
India will participate in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia in October. As we all know, Australian surfaces aid fast bowlers, thus pairing Jasprit Bumrah with Umran Malik, who can bowl at speeds of 155+, will be a lethal combination. BCCI would use the next five months to prepare Umran for the big event by providing him with numerous opportunities.
3. Reward for IPL success
Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh, two promising pacers, were chosen by the BCCI selection committee for the South Africa series. Both have had outstanding performances in the ongoing IPL 2022. Arshdeep excels at bowling in the death overs, whereas Umran excels at bowling in the middle overs.
4. International acclaim
All cricket gurus around the world have lauded Umran Malik’s sheer pace, from cricket’s fastest bowler Shoaib Akhtar to Australia’s great pacer Brett Lee. Sunil Gavaskar, a former Indian cricketer, has encouraged him to play for India in the ICC T20 World Cup in 2022.
5. Senior players should take a break.
After a two-month IPL, Jasprit Bumrah and M Shami deserve a well-deserved break. These two are also important Test bowlers for India. Team India cannot afford to lose either Bumrah or Shami in the upcoming one-off Test against England. This also allows players like Bhuwaneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel to step up and assume leadership roles in the team.