IND vs SA: Picking Umran Malik Is Not Out Of The Box Thinking: Ex-India Selector Dilip Vengsarkar

India faced a major setback yesterday after it was known recovering pacer Jasprit Bumrah allegedly suffered back stress and is now likely to miss the ICC T20 World Cup, slated to begin in October. In the interim, for the ongoing series against the Proteas, Mohammed Siraj has been named as the replacement.

Sharing his thoughts on the matter, former India selector Dilip Vengsarkar said that he would’ve picked young pacer, Umran Malik, in India’s squad for the T20 World Cup, starting next month in Australia. Umran impressed everyone with his blistering pace during the last season of IPL, picking up 22 wickets in 14 matches for SRH.

Umran should be picked when he is bowling at 150kmph, not when it falls to 130kmps; opines Dilip Vengsarkar

The 22-year-old pacer, earlier reaped dividends for his performance in the IPL by being rewarded with a national call-up. He eventually made his debut against Ireland in June this year. Vengsarkar feels that this was the right time to pick the youngster as his sheer pace could’ve made the difference, especially with the tracks in Australia offering pace and bounce.

“There is no out-of-the-box thinking. I would have picked Umran Malik because of his speed. He is a guy who is bowling 150kmph; you’ve got to pick him now, you can’t pick him when he becomes a 130kmph bowler. In Dubai, where the wicket was flat and grassless, where there was no bounce, you needed fast bowlers. If you had medium pacers, you would be tonked around. You needed fast bowlers who could beat the batters in pace,” Vengsarkar told Sportstar.

Dilip Vengsarkar names three players he would like to see in India’s World Cup T20 Squad

Dilip Vengsarkar has also been impressed by young batter Shubman Gill, adding that the likes of Mohammad Shami and Shreyas Iyer should’ve also been selected.

“Shreyas Iyer is in good form and he missed out. Mohammed Shami and Shubman Gill should also be on the team. I am impressed with Gill,” he added.

Gill recently made his County debut for Glamorgan, and also scored a century for them in a game against Sussex.

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