Jadeja's 'unleash him' remark after Umran Malik burns the speed gun in 1st India vs Sri Lanka T20I
Watching Umran Malik crack up the speedometer with a 155kph delivery, Jadeja reckons the team management needs to unleash the India pacer more often.
India speedster Umran Malik continues to impress. From his debut against Ireland in July last year, Umran, so far, has featured in nine matches for India across ODIs and Tests and gotten better with each game. With the kind of deadly pace he has, Umran has showed tremendous accuracy for someone who regularly clocks in the mid-140s. In his young career, Umran has already produced several memorable wicket-taking deliveries which is a testament to the promising career that lies ahead for the 23-year-old quick.
In the first T20I against Sri Lanka in Mumbai on Tuesday, he finished with 2/27 from his four overs. He dismissed Charith Asalanka for his first wicket and later came to his team's rescue in the 17th over when captain Dasun Shanaka was threatening to take the match away from India's grasp. With Shanaka set on 45 off 26 balls, Umran cracked up the speedometer and fired in a delivery bowled at 155 clicks, which Shanaka hit straight to Yuzvendra Chahal at extra cover, with the wicket allowing India some much needed breathing space.
Impressed with whatever he has seen of young Umran, former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja though has a word of advice for Team India regarding the young pacer. Umran came in as the first bowling change after captain Hardik Pandya and debutant Shivam Mavi opened with the new ball, but Jadeja reckons the management needs to treat him slightly different to the rest of the bowlers given the rarity he brings to the table
"He is special, he is different from others, and you need him differently. You need to look after him. His fields have to be different. He will take a while because not many bowlers of that pace bowl so you're not used to seeing where the ball goes. What brings the best out of him. But he showed that in the last over which he bowled. He got hit for a six, then he went further and picked up a wicket. So he will learn as he goes along but it's for the team and the management also to learn how to use him," he said on Cricbuzz.
"There haven't been many bowlers who bowl at this pace. He has got a fabulous action, great rhythm. You need to unleash him. If he is held tight and you make him into a defensive bowler then you are probably losing out on something very special. He might take a little longer to develop into a wicket-taking bowler but he has got something that no other bowler has in India. A lot of players have bounce these days. We see lot of fast bowlers who are pretty good with the seam and all but very rarely do you find a bowler in India with air pace. I just hope and pray that he is used differently."
At Umran's pace, he is expected to bleed runs, and especially when playing T20Is, that risk factor will always exist. Having said that, Jadeja feels that going forward, the management needs to look at Umran beyond his economy rate. Umran has mostly bowled with the old ball, and hence, Jadeja is confident that in the long run – especially 50-overs – the young pacer can wreak havoc in the time to come once the ball gets older.
"You have got to look at this man and not assess him with numbers. If you look at his numbers, they may look ordinary everytime but the 4-5 games that I watched him - in New Zealand and the game today - the accuracy that he has for somebody with that pace is very rare. We've only seen the tip of the iceberg. As the ball gets older, in the longer version he will be more effective. This man will look special. At the moment, he is looking good but he will look even better with the older ball," the former India all-rounder added.
