Umran Malik has to wait for his chance, hints Coach Rahul Dravid

The pacer from Jammu has impressed one and all and Rahul Dravid is no exception. He chokes the opponent with his sheer pace as the youngster has the ability to click at 150 kmph at a regular interval. Despite his speed and ability, Coach Rahul Dravid indicated that the pacer needs to wait for his opportunity to represent the tri-colour.

“He is a young boy who is learning all the time. He is getting better and improving all the time. The more games he is able to play, the better he is going to get”, said Dravid about the young prospect of Indian cricket. The legend added, “From our perspective, I am very happy to have someone like him in the mix. We just have to see how much playing time we will be able to give him. We also have to be realistic; we have got a really large squad. It's not possible to give everyone playing XI time”.

Indian pacer Mohammed Shami and others have previously stated that Umran needs to be more consistent and pace won’t work every time and Rahul Dravid has also indicated the same for Umran. Despite picking 22 wickets in 14 matches, Umran has suffered from inconsistency in the Indian T20 League and that is one thing that the coaches need to work on to get the better out of him.

“I am certainly someone who likes to have a bit of consistency and give people time and let them feel settled in the position. So, it's a question of seeing how much playing time you can give people like Umran, and Arshdeep [Singh] who is another exciting, brilliant guy”, said the 49-year-old.

With the presence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan, the opportunities will be very limited for Umran. “Obviously we have got a few experienced guys who have been with us before - Harshal and Bhuvi, and Avesh played a few games in the last series [against West Indies, in February 2022]. So, there are a few people who have been playing, but it's nice and exciting to have a couple of young guys in the mix as well. Like I said, it has given us an opportunity to broaden our pool, look at a few more players and see what they can do”, said the wall.

The Indian Coach was also impressed to see Kuldeep Yadav in the Indian T20 League. The China-man picked up 21 wickets and has made a return to the team. “Obviously, he had that injury unfortunately in the last season, and in fact even without playing any first-class cricket, we got him back into the mix because we see the quality. He has been a terrific performer. We know that the kind of quality he brings people find very difficult to read. He is a wicket taker. So, there are a lot of positives of having Kuldeep in the group”.