Kapil Dev heaps praise on SRH Pacer Umran Malik

There has been a steady rise in terms of performances from Umran Malik in the Indian Premier League 2022. After being doubted by many on being one of the retained players by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) ahead of the 2022 season, he has made great strides to pick nine wickets in six appearances.

In the latest outing against Punjab Kings (PBKS), Malik finished with figures of 4/28 off four overs. In the final over of their innings, PBKS lost a total of four wickets. Malik bowled a maiden and took three wickets, while another one was a run-out dismissal.

The fiery speed and accuracy of the J&K pacer have hogged the limelight among the cricket fraternity. Most cricket pundits have hailed him as a prospect for the Indian team and felt he needs to be in the T20 World Cup 2022 squad.

The latest to acknowledge his talent is the former Indian captain Kapil Dev. After being impressed with his performances, Kapil reckoned that the combination of pace and accuracy is most lethal for a fast bowler and praised Malik for this consistency in the initial matches.

He thinks India wasn't known for producing quality pace bowlers and gave credit to IPL for developing them to compete well against the world.

"Pace is not that important. Bowling consistently with good pace is more important. Doing it in one match is OK but doing it regularly over a period of 15-20 matches is more important. It's a great achievement. India didn't have pace bowlers earlier but we are now competing with the world thanks to the IPL," Kapil said at Karnavati University in Gandhinagar.

Kapil further mentioned the excellent work done by the BCCI to improve the sports infrastructure of the country. He thinks the facilities provided by the board have paved the way for it to be beneficial for the youngsters to follow their dream and showcase their talent.

"The Indian cricket board has placed a lot of importance on the infrastructure. This has been hugely beneficial to the young cricketers. The board has given facilities to players," added Kapil.

In this season, the likes of Ayush Badoni, Tilak Varma, and Vaibhav Arora have grabbed the opportunity and are the permanent members of their respective sides in the IPL.