"Give him a chance in Test cricket" - Sanjay Manjrekar on whether Umran Malik should be in India's World Cup squad
Sanjay Manjrekar feels Umran Malik should be given a chance to play Test cricket for India instead of being fielded in white-ball cricket.
India are currently touring the West Indies for two Tests, three ODIs and five T20Is, with the first Test starting in Roseau on Wednesday, July 12. While Umran has been included in both limited-overs squads, he has not been picked for the longest format.
During an interaction with News24 Sports, Manjrekar was asked whether he sees Umran in India's World Cup squad, to which he responded:
"I believe if you have to pick Umran, give him a chance in Test cricket because we saw when Mark Wood played the last Ashes Test, a guy who can bowl 90 miles her hour, his specialty is that the tail-enders don't stay against him for long."
The former Indian batter feels the express pacer can prove to be an X-factor in Test cricket:
"So if you have to see Umran Malik, instead of white-ball cricket, if you have a Test series that is not that high-profile, give him a chance there, three-four over spells. So he will be an X-factor in our bowling."
Umran has not enjoyed great returns in first-class cricket. The Jammu and Kashmir speedster has picked up just 12 wickets at an underwhelming average of 46.67 in the seven long-format games he has played.
"If the ball goes even slightly here and there, you can prove expensive" - Sanjay Manjrekar on Umran Malik's pace being a bane in white-ball cricket
Sanjay Manjrekar highlighted that Umran Malik's pace can prove counterproductive in limited-overs cricket:
"When you have a lot of pace, there is a lot of pressure in white-ball cricket, you have to bowl absolutely accurately, if the ball goes even slightly here and there, you can prove expensive and then the captain does not gamble that much."
The cricketer-turned-commentator cited the example of Pakistan blooding in their express pacers in red-ball cricket to substantiate his point:
"This is how Pakistan used to think earlier, when they had young bowlers who bowled 90 miles an hour, they fast-tracked them straightaway into Test cricket and not much in white-ball cricket. There wasn't much T20 cricket at that time."
Umran has been picked in India's ODI and T20I squads for the West Indies tour despite his poor returns in IPL 2023. The SunRisers Hyderabad pacer picked up just five wickets and conceded an average of 10.85 runs per over in eight matches of the prestigious league this year.