“What Are We Waiting For?”- Saba Karim Wants Umran Malik To Be Part Of Indian Pace Bowling Succession Plan

Former India keeper Saba Karim has shared his opinion on whether Jammu and Kashmir pacer Umran Malik should be included in the Indian team’s fast bowling department succession plan which has been made in order to replenish the stock when the current first-choice pacers will need to call time on their careers.

Umran Malik burst onto the scene thanks to his ability of bowling extremely fast and is perhaps one of the fastest Indian bowlers on the scene. He was impressed in his maiden outing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2021 and was one of the nets bowlers for India in the T20 World Cup that year.

He was retained by SRH for IPL 2022 and showed his true colours as he regularly bowled at over 150 kph and picked a four-wicket and a five-wicket haul in the tournament, bowling toe-crushing yorkers at will.

This led to Saba Karim’s hope that Umran Malik should be part of the succession plan as India looks to revamp their ageing pace department.

“He better be, this is the timeline. They need to set some timelines for Umran Malik to get in because I think for the first time ever we have found someone who can bowl 150-plus on a consistent basis. So what are we waiting for?” he said during an interaction on the Sports 18 show ‘Sports Over the Top’.

I Am Glad That They Have Picked Umran Malik In India A Team: Saba Karim

All of his performance in the IPL 2022 where he picked 22 wickets in 14 matches led to Umran Malik making his India T20I debut against Ireland and most recently playing against England as well. He has picked 2 wickets in 3 matches at an economy of 12.44.

Though he lost his place in the Indian team, he was recently picked in the India A team who will clash against the visiting New Zealand A team. He was named for the three four-day games which will be played in Bengaluru and Hubli.

Karim was happy that Umran was included in India A team and said: “I am glad that they have picked him here and he will get an opportunity to bowl against a New Zealand A side, which is supposedly a very strong side.”

Malik has picked up seven wickets in the three first-class matches he has played to date. He played one game during India A’s tour of South Africa last year, in which he picked up just one wicket while conceding 90 runs.

Also Read: IND vs PAK: I’m Backing Experience To Do Well Against Pakistan – Saba Karim On India’s Top-Order