Out-of-favour Pakistan fast bowler Sohail Khan has downplayed the pace of India's Umran Malik. The Jammu and Kashmir pacer rose to fame in IPL 2021 with the eye-catching speed in his bowling. Umran usually bowls over 145 kmph and has also clocked 155 of late at international level. IPL 2022 saw Umran putting up a superb show that eventually helped him gain a place in the India squad. So far, he has has played 8 ODIs and as many T20Is, scalping 13 and 11 wickets, respectively.
Expectations are high from the India pacer, who is being touted to be one of the key bowlers for the team in upcoming time. However, Sohai feels that Umran's pace is not special and that Pakistan has a lot of such bowlers in domestic cricket, who can bowl at his speed.
"I feel this Umran Malik guy is a good bowler. I've seen him in 1-2 matches. He runs fast and has kept other things in check as well. But if you think of fast bowlers with speed in excess of over 150-155 kmph, I can count 12-15 players right now who play tape-ball cricket. If you go visit the trials organised by Lahore Qalandars, you'll find many players," Sohail said in Hindi on a YouTube video by Nadir Ali.
"Our domestic setup is filled with bowlers like Umran Malik. When a bowler comes through in our domestic level, he becomes a bonafide bowler. Like Shaheen, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf... these are bowlers who know their stuff. I can give you plenty of names," he added.