WI vs IND 2023: Give Umran Malik a chance in Test cricket – Sanjay Manjrekar wants selectors to back speedster in red-ball

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar wants the selectors to back Umran Malik in the Test format and feels the gun-fast bowler will be the X-factor. Manjrekar believes Malik should not be given many chances in the limited-overs format and he can help the team in wiping out the tail in multi-day format.

Umran Malik has certainly impressed with his raw pace. The Jammu and Kashmir pacer has shown the skills to consistently bowl at more than 145 kmph. Malik has scalped 13 wickets in eight ODIs whereas he has bagged 11 T20I wickets in as eight T20I games.

Malik has scalped 12 wickets in seven first-class matches at an average of 46.66 and still has a lot to prove at the domestic level. The youngster has picked 29 wickets in 25 IPL matches.

Giving Mark Wood’s example, Sanjay Manjrekar said on News24 Sports, “I believe if you have to pick Umran, give him a chance in Test cricket because we saw when Mark Wood played the last Ashes Test, a guy who can bowl 90 miles her hour, his specialty is that the tail-enders don’t stay against him for long.”

Manjrekar believes India could try out Umran Malik in a Test series, which is not high profile.

“So if you have to see Umran Malik, instead of white-ball cricket, if you have a Test series that is not that high-profile, give him a chance there, three-four over spells. So he will be an X-factor in our bowling.”

The renowned commentator highlighted that Malik could prove to be costly if he is not accurate in his line and length.

“When you have a lot of pace, there is a lot of pressure in white-ball cricket, you have to bowl absolutely accurately, if the ball goes even slightly here and there, you can prove expensive and then the captain does not gamble that much.”

Manjrekar revealed Pakistan used to fast-tracked their young fast bowlers right into the Test team before giving them too many opportunities in the ODI version.

“This is how Pakistan used to think earlier, when they had young bowlers who bowled 90 miles an hour, they fast-tracked them straightaway into Test cricket and not much in white-ball cricket. There wasn’t much T20 cricket at that time.”

India will lock horns with West Indies in the first Test match at Windsor Park, Roseau, Dominica from Wednesday onwards.