IPL 2022: Matthew Hayden said he is excited by Umran Malik’s pace and how he uses it to scare batters.
Umran Malik picked three wickets for 23 runs during SunRisers Hyderabad’s Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 game against Mumbai Indians on Tuesday. His victims included Ishan Kishan, Daniel Sams and Tilak Varma. The dismissal of Kishan, who was batting on 43, showed that the left-handed opener is vulnerable to high pace, felt Matthew Hayden, former Australian cricket team player. Kishan fell to a full-length delivery from Malik that he could not middle and was caught brilliantly by Priyam Garg, who ran backwards, at mid-on.
“It’s not just the unknown players. Ishan Kishan tonight was exposed through high quality fast bowling. And, that’s a worry because once you get to the highest levels, where you are going to be playing a lot more of that type of bowling, 140s-150s are always going to be there, especially if you have a little bit of bounce in the wicket as well,” Matthew Hayden said in the post-match show on Star Sports.
“I love his (Malik’s) raw pace. He is so exciting. The way that he scared him. I mean the ball before that was a bouncer, and then he sensed that automatically Ishan was under pressure and that’s (the shot with which Kishan was caught out) an under pressure shot, that’s a pressure shot that comes with the fact he also has 40 runs on board and now MI are in a good position. Heat on the ball, pressure, wicket.”
Malik, the SunRisers Hyderabad pacer, has impressed all with his raw pace. Currently, he is among the top-four wicket-takers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with 21 scalps.