‘Bowled a 155 KPH yorker and …’ – Former SRH star recalls interesting story involving Umran Malik

Indian pacer Umran Malik is set to miss the Indian Premier League (IPL) season. The 25-year-old was set to play for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) after getting injured. Malik, started his IPL career with Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2021 before bowling well in the IPL 2022 season. This earned him a call-up to the national side during the same year in the T20I and ODI formats. 

Former South African pace legend Dale Steyn recounted a funny tale involving the pacer from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Steyn, was associated with SRH first as a player and then as a coach, working closely with the Indian pacer. In his chat with ESPN CRICINFO’s Cricket Monthly, Steyn revealed how he wanted Umran to bowl slower balls in an IPL match. 

Steyn said, “This is quite a funny story because I went and I said that to him and he said, 'Oh, that's a great point. Thank you very much. If Bhuvi is doing it, I'll try it.' And we were sitting in a game in Mumbai and it was the perfect time for Umran to bowl a slow ball. And he ran in, and I turned around and I said to Murali (Muttiah Muralitharan) I think he's going to bowl a slower ball.' And he ran in and he bowled a yorker and he knocked the stumps out all over the place."

Dale Steyn reveals how Umran Malik proved him wrong 

During the course of his chat with ESPN CRICINFO, the former Proteas pacer revealed, “The camera turned and it pointed towards me and Murali as if the coaches had come up with this amazing thing. And I was like, you know what, sometimes the master is the guy that's actually on the field. I'm telling him to bowl a slower ball. And he ran and bowled a gas 155kph yorker and knocked the stumps out of the ground.”

“But there's definitely a place for it in helping players know what other players are also doing that helps them get better. And in that case, it's something that Umran Malik can certainly work on, but he proved me wrong that day. He just said, this is my skill. I'm going to do this," said Steyn. 

When asked why Malik has lost his place in the Indian side and been rarely seen in the IPL, the former South African star said, “Sometimes you get thrown into the scene like the IPL. You come into the ground and there's 60,000 people screaming and you feel like, oh, I have to run in and I have to bowl 160kph an hour, which is great, but if it goes against the game plan and it goes against the run of play, you are going to go for 60-70 runs and that's not going to do your team any good. It's not going to do you any good."