Former England pacer Darren Gough has backed Umran Malik to get a place in India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Umran impressed many with his fierce bowling in IPL 2022 for Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Jammu and Kashmir pacer clocked 150 kph at regular intervals which troubled several batters.
Umran finished IPL 2022 as the leading wicket-taker for his franchise with 22 scalps under his kitty. He also bowled the second fastest ball of the season – 157kph.
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However, the start of his international cricket didn’t go as planned, in the 3 T20Is, he has claimed just two wickets while leaking runs at an economy rate of 12.44.
Gough picked Jasprit Bumrah to lead the India pace attack in the upcoming ICC mega event, while he chose Bhuvneshwar Kumar to start the proceedings with the new ball.
“Bumrah, I think he is the best all-format fast bowler in the world. He is your first pick, the golden pick. Bhuvneshwar Kumar comes in because of his skill with the new ball. He is really important to take early wickets, slows the momentum down. We have seen that throughout the England vs India series. So I think he has to be on there,” Gough said told cricket.com/tv Youtube channel.
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The former England pacer further chose Mohammed Siraj and Umran Malik as his other two choices. He feels that both pacers have all the credentials to succeed on Australian pitches.
“(Mohammed) Siraj has got good pace. I have been impressed with him when I saw him bowl in Australia and when I saw him in India. Then you’ve got Umran Malik. Anybody who bowls that speed gets into my squad. On the pitches in Australia, you might just need that extra bit of pace to shock the opposition,” he added.
Gough addressed India’s options in the pace department but he chose Siraj and Umran over others to board the flight to Australia.
“But India have got so many options, Shami is another player with so much skills with the new ball. Then there is Prasidh Krishna. There is plenty of options but I would have Umran Malik, Siraj, Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah,” he said.
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