‘Nothing happens with speed alone’ Shaheen Afridi’s words to Umran Malik

Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer Umran Malik was one of the attractions of the 15th season of the popular franchise league Indian Premier League (IPL). He took the storm of speed and made a lot of noise on the whole cricket field. The pacer from Jammu and Kashmir has bowled at a speed of 150+ kmph in almost all the matches of this year’s IPL. His maximum speed in this season was 157.3 kmph.

Umran has taken 22 wickets in 14 matches in the just-concluded IPL. Thanks to his superb bowling, he has also been named in the Indian squad for the upcoming Twenty20 series against South Africa.

However, this time hitting Umran, Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi said that speed is not everything. In international cricket, the main thing is to maintain the line- length. Speaking to reporters, the speed star said, “Unless you can maintain the correct line length and swing the ball, nothing happens with speed alone.”

Fast bowler Shaheen, who is in great form for Pakistan, is busy preparing for the ODI series against the West Indies at home. Regarding their preparations against the Caribbeans, Shaheen said that this is a very important series for them as it is a World Cup qualifier match.

Shaheen added that the weather is hot but the team is looking forward to playing good cricket in it. Long spell bowling in the summer will be a difficult challenge for fast bowlers but as professionals, they are ready to tackle it. This is an important series in terms of World Cup qualifiers which is why they don’t want to lose any match. He also remarked that the West Indies are a strong international team.