Sunrisers Hyderabad raised eyebrows when they decided to leave Umran Malik out of their playing XI for their final few games. Former India pacer Zaheer Khan was among those taken aback.
In a media interview on Thursday, Zaheer, who is also an IPL expert for Jio Cinema, stated that the franchise failed to manage Umran, who is 23 years old.
“I felt Umran Malik has not been handled well by the franchise, (in) the way he should have been handled, (in) the way his services should have been utilised by SRH. That’s something which was evident,” Zaheer said.
“When you are talking about a young seamer, you are also looking at creating that environment and support. And, that guidance is required. Unfortunately that was not seen by SRH. That’s why he’s had a season like this,” he added.
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The bowler from Jammu and Kashmir made his T20I and ODI debuts for India after winning the “Emerging Player of the Tournament” award in 2022. In the opportunities he received, he also won over cricketing greats with his blistering pace. Umran, on the other hand, has only played in seven IPL 2023 games, taking five wickets at a 10.35 economy rate, and hasn’t played yet this month.