The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have constantly chosen to leave Umran Malik from their playing XI and this has come under a lot of criticism, with former India pacer Irfan Pathan also tweeting, "League's fastest bowler sitting out baffles me. His team did not handle Umran Malik well."
Malik has played only seven matches in IPL 2023 and his last appearance came on April 29 against Delhi Capitals (DC). He had an exceptional IPL 2022 season, taking 22 wickets and also registering some of the fastest speeds in the history of the competition.
However, this season, he has only managed only five wickets with a best bowling figure of 2 for 35 in IPL 2023. The omission of Umran, who has played eight ODIs and as many T20Is for India, has sparked debate about whether the franchise has properly utilised him.
Speaking to the media after their elimination from the playoff race, SRH head coach Brian Lara said that form plays a big role in choosing their Playing XI and while the team see a bright future for the pacer, he went on to add that the team must always field their best XI.
"You just have to look at the form of the player. We have great expectations of Umran, and he has got Dale Steyn to work with. But we have to play each game to win. We have to put our best eleven out on the field. And now, with the Impact Player, our best 12. It's strictly on the fact that it's about the form of the player that we look at before picking the team," Lara said after his team lost their second consecutive match.
Lara also spoke about another talented young pacer in their ranks Kartik Tyagi, who has only played one match this season. "We have 25 players, and I would have liked you to ask about (Kartik) Tyagi because he is also a special talent and he's only had one opportunity so far. I can't see anything wrong in terms of selection. I just feel that every time the team gets on to the park, we are not playing the game that we are supposed to," Lara said.
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