IPL 2021: He is giving us quite a hard time in training – Jason Holder on Umran Malik

Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder Jason Holder has revealed that young pace sensation Umran Malik is giving the team’s batters a hard time in the training sessions.

Malik has express pace under his repertoire and he can breathe down the neck of the opposition batters.

Malik has impressed and he has a repeatable smooth action to bowl at a high speed. The 21-year old from Srinagar bowled the fastest of the ongoing IPL 2021 season as he clocked 152.95 kmph against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

Malik returned with figures of 1-21 in his quota of four overs and played a key role in restricting the opposition in the run-chase of 142 runs. In fact, Malik was roped as a net bowler by Sunrisers Hyderabad however he was added to the main squad after T Natarajan was tested positive for Covid-19.

“I think the first thing to mention is his pace. That’s his biggest asset. He’s just been consistent in training and he’s been giving us quite a hard time in training. He has been very hard to get hold of. As you have seen in the games, he is obviously deceiving a lot of batters for pace. That extra pace always adds a boost to any bowling attack,” the former West Indian captain said at a post-match conference.

Holder, who bowled a superb penultimate over against RCB, added that Malik’s control is making him even more effective.

“It’s good to see his control as well. A lot of guys who have bowled quick over the years, sometimes, may seem erratic. But he has been pretty consistent and he has grouped really good deliveries together,” the SRH all-rounder added.

On the other hand, Holder scored 16 runs against RCB and returned with figures of 1-27 in his quota of four overs. The former West Indies skipper conceded only five runs in the 19th over, which played a big role in SRH’s win. Holder revealed he didn’t even practice on eve of the match.

“I just try to prepare well. Funnily enough, I didn’t practice yesterday as I felt that I needed a little bit of a break just to recuperate. But for me, I just like to be clear in my thought process and my game plans. Sometimes, I tend to watch some footage, try to pick up some patterns and just know how I want to set fields when it comes to bowling. So I just want to be clear about my plans and execute them,” he explained.

Sunrisers Hyderabad will play their last league match of the season against Mumbai Indians at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Friday.