'Umran Malik will be sensational but...': Brian Lara's major advice to speed merchant ahead of World Cup 2023

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West Indies great Brian Lara has said that Umran Malik "will be a sensation" but only if he works on other facets of his bowling as speed does not trouble the best batters in the world.

The comments from Lara come two months ahead of the World Cup 2023. Umran Malik was brought back in the Indian side for the white-ball leg of the West Indies tour. He featured in two of the ODI matches but failed to pick any wicket. He leaked 27 runs in three overs in the second ODI before being dropped for the series-decider. The 23-year-old hasn't been named in the playing XI of the first three T20Is of the 5-match series.

Lara said that like Wasim Akram and Malcolm Marshall, the youngster would have to add more tricks in his arsenal to succeed at the international level. Umran Malik has got the opportunity to work under Brian Lara and Dale Steyn at the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL but hasn't impressed much apart from the 2022 season in which he picked 22 wickets. In IPL 2023, the Jammu and Kashmir pacer managed to pick just five wickets from eight matches.

"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," Brian Lara, the former SRH coach, said on a YouTube show 'Wake Up With Sorabh'.

"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 (Umran Malik) works with Dale Steyn, he could definitely be one of the best India could produce," he added.

The Indian team has now flown to the USA for the final two T20Is and it would be interesting to see if he gets a chance in the eleven. The Indian team led by Hardik Pandya is trailing 1-2 in the series.