"Clearly a lot of cooks in the kitchen"- Former SRH coach Tom Moody on Aiden Markram's bizarre statement on Umran Malik's absence
Former Australian cricketer and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) coach Tom Moody feels that captain Aiden Markram may not have complete control on whether speedster Umran Malik gets a look into the playing XI.
In their game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Markram was asked at the toss about the reason for leaving out Umran for so many games. To the surprise of many, the SRH skipper said that he was 'not too sure'. He said:
"I am not too sure, to be honest with you. Obviously, he is a player with the X factor, and bowls at 150kmph, but I can't, I don't really know what is happening with him behind the scenes. But, certainly, he is a player that has a lot of x-factor."
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo after the game, Tom Moody reckoned that there were too many decision makers in the SRH camp, leading to lack of clarity upon some of the calls they made throughout the season. He said:
"I think that implies that he has very little say in the selection and he may have an opinion on Umran Malik the cricketer and what he probably feels his season should have been like, with regards to opportunities to play. That's not ideal, you need your captain and your coach on the same page, working towards what you think is the best combination. There's clearly a lot of cooks in the kitchen and we do not know who has got the tallest hat."
Umran Malik hasn't been handled well by SRH: Zaheer Khan
Responding to a Sportskeeda Query in a media interaction arranged by Jio Cinema, IPL expert Zaheer Khan opened up on SRH leaving out Umran Malik. He felt they needed to show more confidence in the speedster and create that 'environment' for him to prosper. He stated:
"I think Umran Malik hasn’t been handled well by the franchise the way he should have been utilized by SRH. When you’re talking about a young seamer, you’re also looking at creating that environment and support and confidence is required. Unfortunately, that wasn’t seen from SRH and that’s why he has had a season he had this year."
Umran Malik has played just 7 games this season, picking up 5 wickets and has an economy rate as high as 10.35. It will be interesting to see if he is given a game against the Mumbai Indians on Sunday.