Umran Malik Story: Seedhi Chowk in Jammu to IPL 2021; family elated to see pace sensation making mark

For
once,
it
has
nothing
to
do
with
business
but
to
congratulate
Abdul
for
his
son’s
selection
to
the
IPL
team
Sunrisers
Hyderabad.
By
now,
you
might
have
guessed
the
name
too
–
Umran
Malik.

The
22-year-old
has
taken
the
IPL
2021
by
storm
while
making
his
debut
for
SRH
against
Kolkata
Knight
Riders.
The
Hyderabad
side
had
lost
that
match
but
Umran
made
his
debut
a
memorable
one
delivering
a
thunder
bolt
at
151
kmph,
the
fastest
ball
by
an
Indian
pacer
in
the
IPL
2021
so
far.

Abdul
is
a
happy
man
seeing
the
upwardly
mobile
graph
of
his
son
as
a
cricketer.
“Umran
had
worked
hard
for
this.
He
always
wanted
to
play
cricket.
He
has
seen
players
like
Parvez
Rasool
and
Abdul
Samad
getting
a
chance
to
play
India
and
in
the
IPL.
From
a
young
age,
he
started
dedicated
training
to
become
a
cricketer.
We
supported
him
as
much
as
we
can,”
Abdul
told
MyKhel.

”Umran
never
skipped
a
chance
to
play
cricket
–
whether
it
is
tennis
ball
or
real
cricket
ball,
he
just
wanted
to
keep
playing.
Sometimes,
he
will
go
out
of
the
house
early
and
comeback
very
late
and
will
tell
us
he
played
in
2
or
3
matches
that
day
around
the
city.

”When
Abdul
Samad
got
a
chance
to
play
cricket
for
Hyderabad,
Umran
was
very
happy
and
told
us
that
he
too
is
hoping
to
join
him
soon.
Umran
and
Samad
are
very
good
friends
and
J&K
coach
Irfan
Pathan
too
helped
him
a
lot
with
pace
bowling
tips
and
advices
to
keep
his
fitness,”
he
said.

Umran
is
not
an
entirely
unknown
product
as
he
has
played
for
Jammu
and
Kashmir
for
Syed
Mushtaq
Ali
Trophy
and
Vijay
Hazare
Trophy
earlier
this
year.

”Samad
got
him
an
opportunity
to
bowl
at
the
Sunrisers’ nets
and
it
was
a
happy
moment
for
all
of
us
when
he
was
taken
to
Dubai
as
the
team’s
net
bowler
but
none
of
us
thought
Umran
would
actually
playing
in
the
IPL,”
said
Abdul.

Umran’s
ability
to
bowl
at
high
pace
has
created
a
buzz
around
but
Abdul
is
not
surprised.
“A
lot
of
people
had
told
us
that
Umran
can
bowl
very
fast
and
he
always
wanted
to
be
a
fast
bowler.
He
keeps
on
training
at
nets
around
here,
or
with
the
Jammu
team
and
his
sole
aim
is
to
become
better
as
a
cricketer.
Hopefully,
Allah
will
grand
his
wish,”
he
said.

“Nobody
thought
even
this
much
(playing
for
State
and
in
the
IPL)
but
we
always
believe
hard
work
will
eventually
pay
off,”
he
added.

The
path
for
Umran
to
play
for
Sunrisers
was
cleared
when
pacer
T
Natarajan
had
to
go
in
quarantine
after
testing
positive
for
Covid-19,
and
the
franchise
drafted
the
Jammu
boy
as
a
short-term
replacement
on
September
24.

“Umran
had
called
us
from
UAE
to
tell
us
that
he
will
be
joining
the
Sunrisers
main
squad
and
we
were
praying
that
he
should
get
at
least
one
chance
to
play.
It
happened
and
now
we
hope
that
he
will
get
more
chances
soon,”
said
Abdul.