Dilip Vengsarkar on India Squad for T20 WC: Former selector Dilip Vengsarkar says that Umran Malik is a guy who is bowling 150kmph and went on to say that he would’ve picked him for India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2022 – scheduled to play in Australia between October 16 – November 13.
Dilip Vengsarkar on India Squad for T20 WC
Umran Malik made his international debut for the India cricket team in June 2022 against Ireland. Notably, he was named as a short-term COVID-19 replacement for T. Natarajan by the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2021 Indian Premier League.
On 3 October 2021, he made his debut in the IPL, against Kolkata Knight Riders, during the 49th match of the 2021 Indian Premier League. He gained attention during the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore when he bowled five balls in a row at more than 150 kmph.
He was retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2022 auction. In IPL 2022, Umran Malik picked 22 wickets in 14 matches he played for SRH. As a result of his impressive pace attack, he was named as a net bowler for India’s team for the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Vengsarkar feels that this was the right time to pick Umran Malik as his sheer pace could’ve made the difference in India’s game, especially with the tracks in Australia offering pace and bounce.
“There is no out-of-the-box thinking. I would have picked Umran Malik because of his speed. He is a guy who is bowling 150kmph; you’ve got to pick him now, you can’t pick him when he becomes a 130kmph bowler.
In Dubai, where the wicket was flat and grassless, where there was no bounce, you needed fast bowlers. If you had medium pacers, you would be tonked around. You needed fast bowlers who could beat the batters in pace,” Vengsarkar told Sportstar.
Vengsarkar added that he was impressed with the young batter Shubman Gill who recently smashed his maiden century in County cricket, scoring 119 for his side Glamorgan against Sussex.
“Shreyas Iyer is in good form and he missed out. Mohammed Shami and Shubman Gill should also be on the team. I am impressed with Gill,” he added.
India Squad for T20 World Cup 2022
Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
Standby Players: Mohammad Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar.
