Pace sensation Umran Malik reveals how Dale Steyn had predicted his India call-up before IPL 2022

Umran Malik had made heads turn throughout the IPL 2022 edition. His raw pace, deadly yorkers and some tidy spells changed the complexion of the game in favour of Kane Williamson-led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) before the one-time winners' group stage exit.

Umran, however, returned with as many as 22 wickets and was the fourth-highest wicket-taker, overall, in the 15th season of the IPL, which ended with Gujarat Titans (GT) being crowned the eventual winners. Further, the Jammu & Kashmir speedster bowled the fastest ball of the match in every game SRH featured in and held the record for bowling the quickest ball of the season (157 kph) before Lockie Ferguson went past him in the final (by clocking 157.3 kph). 

After a memorable IPL 2022 season, Umran is now part of India's T20I squad for the home series versus South Africa, which gets underway on June 09 in New Delhi. Before that, the 22-year-old revealed how SRH's bowling coach and legendary SA pacer Steyn had predicted his India call-up before IPL 2022.

"When I got selected for India, Dale sir (Steyn) was with me in the team bus. We were going for the match. Everyone congratulated me and Dale sir said, 'I told you before the IPL that you will get the India call-up after the season'. And that's exactly what happened, by the grace of god. My goal is to give my best for Team India now,” Malik said in the video shared by BCCI.

On joining the Indian camp, Umran said, "I was very happy to meet and talk with Rahul sir. He is such a legend of the game. He just told me to keep continuing what I do. Paras sir was also standing behind me and he was guiding me after every ball. It was giving me a lot of confidence."

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In regular captain Rohit Sharma's absence, KL Rahul will lead the national side in the forthcoming SA T20Is at home. It will be interesting to see if Umran features in the playing XI for the series opener or is made to wait for his chances.

India's T20I squad for South Africa series - KL Rahul (Capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(VC) (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Y Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, R Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik