There have been many discussions going around about whether Umran can surpass Pakistan maestro Shoaib Akhtar in terms of speed or not.
Notably, Akhtar with a 161 kmph delivery, currently holds the record for the fastest ball in cricket history.
India’s bowling coach, Bharat Arun, has now jumped into the discussion. In an interview with News24Sports, he said that India has found a great talent in form of Umran Malik.
When further asked about Umran breaking Akhtar’s record, Arun said that the 23-year-old Indian pacer could easily increase his pace by 5 kmph, and might end up breaking the fastest delivery record by the ‘Rawalpindi Express’.
“Umran Malik is a great find for India. Somebody who bowls 150-plus consistently. He is a huge talent for India and we need to nurture this talent. We have the option of making him a very good bowler for India in the future,” said Arun to News24Sports.
“For fast bowling, physical fitness and skill is 50-50. He needs to work on both to maximise his potential, with consistency. He needs to work on these both things,” he added.
“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 the kind of work. But if someone is bowling 125, can’t make it 150. Some putting 135, can make it 140. Some bowling 140, can make it 145. But you cannot increase too much.”
Just a few weeks back, Umran broke the record for fastest delivery by an Indian pacer. He surpassed Japrit Bumrah to achieve the feat.
In the last year’s Indian Premier League (IPL), Umran bowled a 157 kmph ripper for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Delhi Capitals.
For latest cricket news & updates, visit CricketTimes.com.