IPL 2021: Umran Malik impresses RCB's Virat Kohli, India captain keen to track speedster's progress

Match 52 of the IPL 2021 edition saw the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) lock horns with the bottom-ranked Kane Williamson-led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday evening (October 6). Being asked to bat first, a struggling SRH camp managed a modest 141-7 riding on valuable contributions from Jason Roy, Williamson, etc.

In reply, RCB didn't have the best of starts but were comfortably placed at 92-3 in 14 overs; needing 50 off 36 balls with an in-form Glenn Maxwell in the middle. However, SRH bowlers didn't give anything away easily and combined to restrict Kohli & Co. for a modest 137-6 and win by 4 runs. While Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jason Holder held their nerves in the death-overs, Jammu and Kashmir's youngster Umran Malik also played his part with his raw pace and tidy spell; 4-0-21-1.

Umran has already made heads turn with his pace. For the unversed, he also bowled the fastest delivery (152.95 km/h) in IPL 2021 during the RCB face-off. He also showed his ability to bowl as per the situation and hold his nerves in crunch moments. Hence, he was noticed by RCB and Indian captain Kohli.

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At the post-match presentation, Kohli said, "This tournament throws up talent every year, good to see a guy bowling at 150 clicks. It is important to understand the progress of individuals from hereon. The pool of fast bowlers being strong is always a good sign for Indian cricket and whenever you see talent like this, you are going to have your eyes on them and make sure you maximise their potential, which is already being seen at the IPL level," he added.

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In the recent past, Indian cricket have been blessed with a plethora of talented speedsters. Umran is the latest addition and it will be interesting to see how the 21-year-old speedster progresses from hereon after being noticed in just a handful of appearances for SRH in IPL 2021.