IPL 2022: "I am not in favor of that" - RP Singh on Umran Malik being included in India's T20 World Cup squad
Former pacer RP Singh is "not in favor" of including Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) pacer Umran Malik in India's squad for the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.
He reasoned that the 22-year-old doesn't have much domestic experience nor a consistent run of IPL performances to back him. He believes a national debut at this stage would be "a bit too early" for the youngster.
RP Singh's comments came in an interaction with Cricbuzz before Umran Malik shocked the Gujarat Titans (GT) in IPL 2022 on Wednesday, 27 April. He earned his maiden IPL five-wicket haul at the Wankhede Stadium.
He dismissed Shubman Gill, skipper Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, David Miller, and Abhinav Manohar with sheer pace. Unfortunately, SRH ended up losing the match by five wickets.
Malik's 15 wickets in IPL 2022 so far have raised voices for his inclusion in the Indian squad for Australia. Many believe that his pace and bounce could be India's X-factor at the tournament. RP Singh is of a different opinion, though he still wants the pacer to be kept around.
He explained on Cricbuzz:
"Umran Malik is surely an exciting talent. He should be kept with the team because then you can groom him while keeping the strength of your bench. You never know who will you need when. But playing him right away? I am not in favor of that because he hasn't played much domestic and even in IPL, he has only just started to do well."
Singh added:
"His economy rate was very poor but in the last 2-3 matches he has pulled it back to around eight. He is on the stepping stones of improvement, if he stays with the team, bowls to world-class bowlers in the nets, he'll get that fine-tuning done. You can keep him in the team for the future but it's perhaps a bit too early to play him."
Not only consistent 150+ kph pace, which is rare for Indian fast-bowlers, Umran Malik brings to the table an ability to deliver in the middle overs. Against GT, he was brought on in the seventh over and picked up a wicket each in his first three overs. The remaining two came in the 16th over with pacy stump-to-stump yorkers.
Umran Malik is the real deal 🔥🔥🔥🔥
With experience, he can form a daunting combination with Jasprit Bumrah for the Men in Blue.
Click here to view the purple cap in IPL 2022.
"Teams talk about such bowlers" - Virender Sehwag on Umran Malik
WICKETS. WE REPEAT. HE'S GOT 
HE'S GOT 5️⃣ WICKETS. WE REPEAT. HE'S GOT 5️⃣ WICKETS. 🔥🧡
#JammuExpress #GTvSRH #OrangeArmy #ReadyToRise #TATAIPL https://t.co/hPJhkIfeTF
Virender Sehwag also backed Umran Malik's inclusion as a reserve bowler in India's T20 World Cup squad. He added that playing him in the first 11 could also be "alright."
He argued that the Jammu and Kashmir pacer is capable of creating a buzz like Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar used to do. The former opener said:
"I'll definitely keep him in the team as a backup because he can be needed at any time due to a niggle or injury to a first-choice player so you need to have the bench strength. Even if he's in the 11 it's alright because teams talk about such bowlers."
He added:
"We also used to talk about Brett Lee, Shoaib Akhtar and Shane Bond, these used to bowl at 150+kph. You can't hit them easily. There's good pace and bounce on Australian wickets so only the batters who are used to it can score runs. Australian players might be used to the place and bounce but other teams are not. Umran Malik can do well against those teams."
No other SRH bowler picked up any wickets in the match and the GT lower-order pulled off yet another jailbreak by completing the chase on the last ball to finish on 199/5.