Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun confident in Umran Malik’s chances of breaking Shoaib Akhtar’s fastest ball record

There is a lot of attention on Indian speedstar Umran Malik and his transition from the IPL to International cricket. He was pretty impressive in the T20I series against Sri Lanka at home and people are already talking about his blistering pace and aggressive mentality of always looking to pick wickets even though it means that he goes for a couple of boundaries.

Recently former Indian bowling coach Bharat Arun spoke regarding the Kashmir based youngster and shared how he feels that the Indian can break the record of the fastest ball bowled in international cricket which is held by Shoaib Akhtar. Arun who is currently with IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders feels that bowlers are capable of increasing their speed by 5kmph and hence it is possible in Umran’s case as well as he already has ventured in the mid 150s currently with the intention of breaking Akhtar’s record.

“If you work on your action, your line and length will get better and speed will increase as well. To increase the pace, drills can be helpful and workload monitoring is also important. Any bowler can increase the pace by 5 kmph easily with this kind of work (when questioned if he can break Akhtar’s 161 kmph record),” Bharat Arun told News24Sports.

Shoaib Akhtar of Pakistan bowled the fastest ball of 161kmph in international cricket back in 2002 against New Zealand. Umran Malik who is India’s next pace sensation has already tread the mid150s and hence it is possible for him to reach and break Akhtar’s long standing record.

Bharat Arun shared that Umran Malik needs nurturing and proper mentoring and he has the potential to serve Indian cricket for a long time. He also pointed out how rare it is to find pacers who can hit 150 regularly in India especially but also in the world.

“Umran Malik is a very good find for India. Somebody who bowls 150 kmph+. He is doing that consistently, a big talent for India. We have the option of nurturing him and making him a very good bowler for India in the future,” Arun added.

He will be next seen in India’s upcoming white ball series against New Zealand as he will look to break into the ODI team for the World Cup later this year. He provides the team with that X factor which they surely miss in Jaspirt Bumrah’s absence.