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‘Anybody who bowls that speed gets into my squad’- Darren Gough on why Umran Malik should be in the 20-20 World Cup squad

Former England pacer Darren Gough asserted that India should pick young speedster, Umran Malik, into their squad for the 20-20 World Cup to be held later in the year. The 22-year-old from […]

Jul 23, 2022 1:52 pm

Former England pacer Darren Gough asserted that India should pick young speedster, Umran Malik, into their squad for the 20-20 World Cup to be held later in the year. The 22-year-old from Jammu and Kashmir made his India debut recently. He featured in 2 matches against Ireland and one against England, picking up only a couple of wickets, and was expensive, leaking runs at 12.44 runs per over.

Malik was then dropped from the squad for the upcoming 5 T20Is against West Indies and the belief is that the management is unlikely to consider the inexperienced fast bowler for the 20-20 World Cup this year.

Darren Gough has his say on the pace attack for the Men in Blue in Australia. Darren Gough picked the two obvious choices – Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was the Man of the Series against South Africa and England, as the two senior pacers in the squad of the Men in Blue for the 20-20 world cup.

“Bumrah, I think he is the best all-format fast bowler in the world. He is your first pick, the golden pick. Bhuvneshwar Kumar comes in because of his skill with the new ball. He is really important to take early wickets, slows the momentum down. We have seen that throughout the England vs India series. So, I think he has to be on there,” Gough told the cricket.com/tv Youtube channel.

The former England speedster had a different take for the 3rd and 4th seamer slot. He picked two youngsters – Siraj and Malik in his squad, even though both have been criticized for being expensive with the ball. He said that he was impressed by Siraj’s performance in the Test series last year in Australia. As for Umran, Gough reckons Malik’s high pace will suit well and trouble the batters on the Australia pitches.

“(Mohammed) Siraj has got a good pace. I was impressed with him when I saw him bowl in Australia and when I saw him in India. Then you’ve got Umran Malik. Anybody who bowls that speed gets into my squad. On the pitches in Australia, you might just need that extra bit of pace to shock the opposition.

“But India have got so many options, Shami is another player with so much skill with the new ball. Then there is Prasidh Krishna. There are plenty of options, but I would have Umran Malik, Siraj, Bhuvneshwar, and Bumrah,” the former England seamer contended.

After the series against West Indies, India’s major T20I assignment will be the Asia Cup, that will be held in the T20 format and which will serve as ideal preparation for the 20-20 World Cup.