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Umran Malik Reveals Dale Steyn Had Predicted His India Call-up
By CricShots - Jun 8, 2022 3:52 pm
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The young Indian fast bowler, Umran Malik is witnessing a purple patch in his career with his consistent performances in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 for the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). After that, he also earned his maiden India call-up for the 5-match T20I series against South Africa.

Umran Malik
Umran Malik bowling in the Indian nets

Umran has picked up 22 wickets in 14 matches for SunRisers in the IPL 2022 and his ability to consistently bowl at the pace of more than 150 kph made it impossible for the senior selection committee to overlook him. Malik is currently training along with Team India and in a video posted by the BCCI, Malik detailed his IPL season and the call-up.

Recalling the moment he heard the news of his maiden call-up, Umran revealed that SRH’s bowling coach Dale Steyn had predicted his international call-up even before the season began.

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In a video shared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Umran Malik was heard saying, “When I got selected for India, Dale Sir (Steyn) was with me in the team bus. We were going for the match. Everyone congratulated me and Dale sir said, ‘I told you before the IPL that you would get the India call-up after the season. And that’s exactly what happened, by the grace of god. My goal is to give my best for Team India now.”

He further added, “I was very happy to meet and talk with Rahul sir. He is such a legend of the game. He just told me to keep continuing what I do. Paras sir was also standing behind me and he was guiding me after every ball. It was giving me a lot of confidence.”

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Indian squad for SA series: KL Rahul (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.