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‘Umran Malik would have been an international player by now if he was a Pakistani’ - Kamran Akmal

Umran Malik has impressed the cricket fraternity to the core by exhibiting his amazing bowling skills on multiple occasions in IPL 2022. The well-built fast bowler from J&K has the ability to bowl consistently at 150kph and therefore has been a headache for the opponent batters in the tournament. Looking at Umran's skillset, many cricket pundits have asked the Indian management to launch the youngster at the international level. 


Apart from some former Indian cricketers, someone from the other side of the border has recently heaped praises on the fiery fast bowler. The ex-Pakistani cricketer Kamran Akmal has opined that Umran should represent India in the near future. 


Addressing a Pakistani news agency, Akmal even went on to say that if Umran was a Pakistani, he would've played international cricket by now as he has the habit of picking wickets regularly despite going for a few runs. To justify his point, Akmal cited the examples of Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar, who also used to be slightly expensive at times but were regarded as outright match-winners with the ball. 


"If he was in Pakistan, maybe he would have played international cricket. His economy is high, but he is a strike bowler since he is getting wickets. Brett Lee and Shoaib (Akhtar) bhai were also expensive, but they picked up wickets and that's how strike bowlers should be," Akmal said. 


Continuing, Akmal said that Umran's pace never seems to go downhill, which is a very positive sign. The former Pakistani keeper also stressed that it's a time when the Indian team is boosted with many extremely quick fast bowlers, unlike in the past, and having too many quality options has made it incredibly tough for the selectors to pick only a few of them for the national side. 


"After every match, his speed chart comes where he clocks around 155 km/h and it's not going down", Akmal said. "It's a good competition in the Indian team. Earlier, Indian cricket lacked quality fast bowlers, but now they have a plethora of pacers like Navdeep Saini, Siraj, Shami and Bumrah. Even Umesh Yadav is bowling beautifully. With 10-12 pacers in the ranks, it's becoming tough for Indian selectors to make selections," the 40-year-old concluded. 

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'MS Dhoni can continue playing in the IPL,' says Matthew Hayden

Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden has said that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni is certainly performing well for the four-time IPL title champions and can continue featuring in the league if he wants to. However, Hayden's comments came after CSK got out of the playoffs race in IPL 2022 after their 5-wicket loss to five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. Soon after the defeat, speculations started on Dhoni's future in the IPL, considering his age as he will be 41 during next year's edition of the cash-rich tournament. Notably, Dhoni retired from international cricket in 2020 but continued to represent CSK. However, he did well for his beloved franchise this year, where he managed 199 runs at an average of over 30 and a strike rate of over 130. Witnessing his ability to run between the wickets quickly and keep himself fit, Hayden reckoned that Dhoni's longevity in a high-quality tournament like the IPL is fantastic and inspiring. "How fast he is running between the wickets, my goodness! This is a guy that has really gone beyond the age of a normal athlete within a competition of this level. Good on him. If he wants to keep playing, he can because he is certainly turning up for his team," Hayden told Star Sports. Meanwhile, CSK named Ravindra Jadeja captain for this season ahead of the tournament. Despite Dhoni stepping down as captain, he was at the centre stage at CSK. But after eight matches into the season, Jadeja stepped down from the role, handing back the captaincy to Dhoni again as well, and led the side with full enthusiasm and energy. And Hayden said that having a composed figure like Dhoni helped them build a strong team for the future. "It's so important from a leadership point of view that you have someone like an MSD at the helm. Just having the certainty that you can pick someone in the team and then go through picking the rest of the team. That confidence he brings to the team, it's all the things we love about MSD," the Australian further added. MSD top-scored for CSK on Thursday with an unbeaten 36, but his effort was not enough as the defending champions were all out for just 97 in 16 overs. That said, they got off to a good start with the ball, claiming as many as four wickets in quick succession. But a 48-run stand between Tilak Varma and Hrithik Shooken helped MI win the match comfortably in the end. CSK is currently placed in the 9th spot on the IPL 2022 points table with 8 points from 12 matches so far. They play against Gujarat Titans on May 15 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.