Cricket News

Visa issues create travel delays for India net bowlers ahead of 20-20 World Cup- Reports

Umran Malik’s departure to Australia has been delayed due to visa issues. The tearaway fast bowler has been selected to represent the Indian Team in Australia as a net bowler. There is no concrete news as to when Umran Malik will fly to Australia.

The pacer is currently playing for Jammu and Kashmir in the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy against Meghalaya in an Elite Group C match at Mohali. Speaking to Sportstar, Brigadier Anil Gupta, administrator of the JKCA, said: “Due to some issues, Umran’s travel to Australia has been delayed and the BCCI has released him for at least the first game of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, beginning Tuesday.” “We will take it match-by-match. For now, he will be available for the first game.”

Umran Malik hogged the limelight in Indian T20 League 2021 when he bowled rockets at 150 kilometres per hour. He mesmerized everyone with his pace in the three games. The 22-year-old had a wonderful season for the Hyderabad franchise in 2022 under the mentorship of Dale Steyn where he picked up 22 wickets from 14 matches at an average of 20.18 and a strike rate of 13.4.

He can be a handful on the bouncy pitches in Australia. Umran made his T20I debut against Ireland where he picked up two wickets from three matches. He last played a T20I match against England. Reports also suggest another net bowler Kuldeep Sen’s has also been delayed. However, there is no clarity on whether he would feature for Madhya Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy fixture against Rajasthan in Rajkot on Tuesday. Umran and Sen could likely leave with the standby players, currently playing against South Africa, on October 12.

Kuldeep Sen had a memorable Indian T20 League season in 2022 for the Rajasthan franchise where he picked up 8 wickets from eight games at an average of 31.25 and at a strike rate of 19.6 the pacer bowled quite of few overs at the death for his team in the 2022 edition of the Indian T20 League.