Umran Malik has done a miracle on Sunday by dismissing four batters in the death over without conceding a single run. It was one of the best moments in the history of world cricket. Bowling in the death, the last over of the 20 overs, is most difficult task in cricket since the batters will take any risk to score and the fielders will go to any length to limit the scores of the batters.
In the Indian Premier League (IPL)2022 match between Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, pacer from Kashmir, Umran Malik, bowled one of the greatest overs that were bowled in the history of world cricket. Liam Livingstone was looking set for PBKS(Punjab Kings) determined to score big in final overs, but in the 19th over Bhuvanesh Kumar, another successful bowler who took three wickets, bowled out the English all-rounder. At that time PBKS was 151/6 with Odean Smith and Rabada, very strong batters, were at the crease with the final over to be bowled.
Deadly death over
Then Umran Malik started bowling the first ball of the final death over. Smith, the West Indian all-rounder had gone for a pull but was beaten and had ended up with the ball hitting on the stomach. The very next ball was a short one and the West Indian gave an easy return catch to Malik. Rahul Chahar, a bowler, came in only to face a dot ball. The next ball was full and fast which hit the stumps with Chahar missing the line.
Then came Vaibhav Arora who got the same kind of fast ball from Malik and missed his shot and ball went straight to hit the stumps. The final ball was bowled to Arshdeep Singh who came in place of Arora. Singh pushed the ball to covers and he and Rabada tried to sneak a single which was not there. It was a run out. So, not a single run was added to the total of 151/5 which became 151/9 at the end of six balls bowled in the death over by the wonderful bowler Umran Malik.
Born 22 years ago in Srinagar
Malik who was born on 22 November 1999 in Srinagar was part of Jammu and Kashmir Cricket team where Irfan mentored the young cricketers. He was roped in by SRH in 2021 and retained him for 2022 as replacement for T Natarajan who suffered Covid-19 infection. Malik played only two first class games – one T20 and one List A game for his State before joining the IPL in 2021. He had taken the IPL by storm with his pace impressing the greats like Virat Kohli and former India head coach Ravi Sastry.
The 22 year old pacer has been the talk of IPL-2022 with his searing pace clocking over 150 kmph registering all the top five fastest deliveries so far bowled in this season. During the earlier match between SunrisersHyderabad and Kolkota Knight Riders, his clever trap to dismiss the rival captain Shreyas Iyer was hailed as a masterstroke. He did the wonder again in the match against Punjab Kings on Sunday.
Reminded of Waqar Younis: Irfan
Irfan Pathan, the Indian pacer and the mentor of Malik and others in Jammu&Kashmir, told Star Sports that the youngster reminded him of Pakistan pace great Waqar Younus. He said the first time he (Irfan) saw him was when Malik was bowling while he was playing for Jammu & Kashmir. He made his Twenty 20 debut on 18 January 2021 for Jammu & Kashmir in the 2020-21 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He made his List A debut on 27 February 2021 in Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Umran Malik’s senior pace colleague Bhuvanesh Kumar praised his younger pace colleageMalik saying watching him bowl fqast ‘is a joy.’ Bhuvanesh(3/22) and Umran (4/28) together bundled out Punjab for a meagre score of 151 in twenty overs. “Watching him (Umran) bowl fast and claim wickets is a joy.” Bhuvanesh himself gave a very good start by claiming the scalp of Sikhar Dhawan. Bhuvanesh said in a lighter vein that he is feeling threatened by Malik because batters think he (Bhuvanesh) is slower than Malik.
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