New Delhi, March 16 – Former Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar praised young Indian speed star Umran Malik and gave the youngster valuable advice to improve his skills, saying that even batsmen hitting Nor should he reduce his aggression.
Umran caught the attention of selectors with his raw pace during the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL), where he beat Delhi Capitals at 157 km/h to become the league’s fastest bowler at the time.
He was soon picked up for India’s T20I squad and made his mark against Ireland before making his ODI debut against New Zealand the same year.
“He’s a very good bowler; great run-up, good arm speed. I’d say; Imran learned the art of bowling very quickly and the art of taking the wicket. The art of batting is— Never reduce your aggression, never think about slow bowling when a batsman hits you,” Akhtar told News24.
“Whenever you step on the field, think that the ownership of the field must be yours. This is a great country you play for, so never betray the feelings of your fellow countrymen,” he added.
“Rawalpindi Express” further stated that he was sure that Umran would learn the skills in time and assured him that he was always ready to help if needed.
Asked what a fast bowler needs to do to accelerate from 157km/h to 162km/h, Akhtar said: “When I used to bowl, I used to bowl from 26 yards and Umran used to Often bowls from 22 yards. If he gets to 22 to 26 yards he develops different muscles. Sometimes when bowling the muscles get tired from one action and then the bowler tries to use different muscles for different actions .”
Notably, Akhtar holds the record for the fastest ball thrown in the history of cricket. During the 2003 Cricket World Cup, he bowled at 161.3 km/h against England.
“If you want to break my record, please break my record for 20 years, please break that record and I will be the first one to come and hug you,” he added.
Talking about Virat Kohli’s form, the ex-Pakistan fast bowler described the funky batsman as the greatest batsman of the modern era and mentioned that it would be difficult for him to score in the next 2,500 runs to tie 100 century record kept by Sachin Tendulkar.
Last week, Kohli ended a long wait of 1,205 days in the fourth Border Gavaskar Trophy Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, his 75th international top 100.
“The captain has had a lot on him. Finally, he’s out of the box and enjoying life…and, he can now focus on hitting the ball he knows best. And for the next 25-20 centuries, he has to score to get to or Breaking Sachin’s record, it will be the toughest. But I believe this guy has mental strength..he is the greatest hitter on earth, Babar Azam will be in Kohli’s place but in 10 years After that, Kohli will end his career,” he said.
“For me, number one is Sachin Tendulkar, but Virat is the greatest in this era,” he concluded.
–IANS
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