Umran Malik is very young and has lot of years ahead of him, says Brian Lara

NEW DELHI: Legendary West Indies batter Brian Lara believes young India fast-bowler Umran Malik is very young and has got a lot of years in him to play the game. At the same time, Lara added that quick pace should not be the only weapon in Malik's arsenal.

In eight T20Is, Malik has played since his debut in June 2022, he has picked 11 wickets at an economy rate of 10.48, but hasn’t played so far in the ongoing series against the West Indies.

In the preceding ODI series, Malik played two matches, but didn’t get a scalp against his name. In IPL 2023, Malik played only seven matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad, of which Lara was head coach, picking five wickets at an economy rate of 10.35.

"He will be a sensation, but very quickly he will have to learn that fast bowling really does not trouble the best players in the world. You have to have the ability to do something with the ball, be sensible, and maybe understand times when you have to trickle back or understand the times when you have to up the tempo. He is very young and has got a lot of years ahead of him," said Lard on a YouTube show named 'Wake Up With Sorabh'.

It was in IPL 2022 that Malik hit top form after making heads turn in IPL 2021, picking 22 wickets from 14 matches at an average of 20.18 and economy rate of 9.03, taking Emerging Player of the Tournament award.

The 54-year old Lara feels that Malik needs to learn from careers of other great fast bowlers and feels he can evolve on working with Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling coach, legendary South Africa pacer Dale Steyn.

"We have had so many different examples. Wasim Akram was raw pace, Malcolm Marshall had destructive pace, and Michael Holding. But they all know that at some point in time, they have had to come up with a lot more tricks than just being able to bowl fast. If he (Malik) works with Dale Steyn, he could definitely be one of the best India could produce," he said.