Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) all-rounder Jason Holder has shared that they have found it quite tough to deal with their new pacer – Umran Malik in the nets. He came into the squad as a COVID-19 replacement for the pacer T Natarajan and impressed everyone as well as fans with his pace and control.
Playing his only second match of the IPL 2021 against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Wednesday, Malik finished with figures of 1 for 21. He dismissed Srikar Bharat and picked up his maiden IPL wicket as well. While speaking about Malik’s spell and his entry into the SRH playing XI, Holder agreed that extra pace certainly ade a big difference.
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“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.
“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,” he further added.
However, Umran Malik bowled the fastest ball of this year’s IPL season, clocking 153 kmph during their four-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore as well. While he has impressed everyone in the last couple of games, Holder has been in sublime form for a few matches in a row, especially with the ball. He registered 1 for 27 on Wednesday. Before that, he took 3 for 19 against Punjab, 3 for 27 against Chennai and 2 or 32 against Kolkata also.
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“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 concluded.
Notably, SRH will take on Mumbai in their last league match in Abu Dhabi on Friday, October 8.
