You should not reduce your pace at all – Irfan Pathan on his advice to Umran Malik

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has advised Umran Malik to not reduce his pace at all in order to have more control. The pace is Malik’s X-factor and he breathed down the neck of the opposition with his express speed in the recently concluded Tata IPL 2022.

Not only did Umran Malik impress with his pace but also he did a good job with his accuracy as he learned a lot by playing under the observation of Sunrises Hyderabad bowling mentor Dale Steyn. Malik took a total of 22 wickets in 14 matches for the Orange Army at an average of 20.18 and an economy rate of 9.01.

Meanwhile, the 22-year-old youngster from Jammu and Kashmir bowled consistently above 145 km/h in the Tata IPL 2022. Malik also clocked 157 km/h while playing against Delhi Capitals but his record of the fastest ball of the season was broken by Lockie Ferguson, who bowled 157.3 km/h delivery against Jos Buttler in the final of the tournament.

After his impressive show in Tata IPL 2022, Malik was able to break into India’s T20 squad for the series against South Africa.

It is well known that a lot of cricket experts are advising Umran Malik to improve his accuracy but Pathan doesn’t want him to do that at the cost of his express pace.

Irfan Pathan said while talking to Star Sports show Game Plan, “I always tell him that you have to pay attention to your line and length but you should not reduce your pace at all. The more he tries to keep the ball close to the three stumps and keeps on bowling the hard length, everything else will come with time.”

​​”I have just simple advice for him after every match, whether it was in the IPL or will be going forward – what you have done well today and where you have to improve. This process has to be there till he or anyone else plays cricket. We have seen Sachin Tendulkar follow this process although no one else has had a career like him.”

Pathan added that Malik still has a lot of improvement to make in his game and he is going to get better with experience. In fact, Malik hasn’t played a lot of first-class cricket and has hogged the limelight because of his extra pace.

“He still has a lot of things to work on, whether we talk about the slower one or bowling to the right-left combination. His seam remains straight and he talks about slight outswing, but that will take time.”

“If you still see his background, he has not played much first-class cricket. Whenever I have spoken to India-A coaches or the ones at the higher level or the selectors, when they ask me I only say about Umran that back him when is not doing well and push him when he is doing well.”

Malik will be seen in action in the five-match T20I series against South Africa.