Sunrisers Hyderabad's young tearaway pacer Umran Malik has excited everyone in IPL 2022 with his raw pace, touching the 150kmph consistently while taking 15 wickets in first-eight matches, including an enthralling five-wicket haul against Gujarat Titans.
But with Malik going wicketless in his last three matches, critics have been questioning whether the young Jammu pacer should be fast-tracked into the Indian team or not.
Now, Gujarat's pace spearhead Mohammed Shami has said that Malik will need "some more time" to mature as a pacer.
"I admit that pace is there but personally speaking, I am not a huge fan of pace. I believe if you can bowl 140kmph and move the ball both ways as well as reverse (swing), then it's enough to (trouble) the batters. He has incredible pace but he still needs some more time to mature in my opinion as apart from pace, we also have to apply ourselves," said Shami in a virtual media interaction organised by the franchise on Friday.
Apart from Malik, Lucknow Super Giants' left-arm pacer Mohsin Khan has captured the imagination of cricket fans, with his ability to swing the new ball and be economical while picking ten wickets in six matches. Shami, who spent time training alongside Mohsin during the lockdown at his farmhouse, said the youngster needs to focus more and stick to a routine which will have to be created as early as possible.
"Mohsin Khan has practised with me. He's young and strong but he will have to focus well like you have to create a gameplan and stick to a routine physically as well as mentally. Whatever the setup is needed has to be done right now as if you carry these things from now onwards, it will give you great use at one point," Shami said.
"When we were playing, there was no one playing amongst us and didn't know about the plays of top-level cricket. But for today's young boys, there are a lot of options. That's why I say that pacers coming in last few matches like Mohsin, Umran, or other new boys, are performing very well with lots of confidence. I just hope that in coming times, they will do very well for the country," he added.
