‘Haris Rauf bhi raw hi aaya tha na?’: Akram reacts to Lee’s ‘Best sports car parked in garage’ reference for Umran Malik

Brett Lee had mentioned that Umran Malik is like ‘the best sports car’ available in the market but the Indian team is wasting it by ‘keeping it parked in a garage’. Reacting to the same, Wasim Akram reckons Umran should have been with the Indian team in Australia and given a crack at the World Cup.

Umran Malik’s omission from India’s T20 World Cup squad has been met with mixed reactions. Many feel that the call was bang on since the 22-year-old is too young for top-flight cricket, and despite his brilliance in the IPL, Umran has a long way to go before becoming a permanent feature in India’s Playing XI. And then on the other hand, there are those who believe that Umran should have been in India’s squad for his pace, something that is rewarded while playing in Australian conditions.

Wasim Akram has been one of Umran’s very vocal supporters. During the Asia Cup too, Akram has vouched for the India quick’s inclusion in the World Cup squad and has now reaffirmed his stance of the matter. Recently, another legendary pacer Brett Lee, had mentioned Umran is like ‘the best sports car’ available in the market but the Indian team is wasting it by ‘keeping it parked in a garage’. Reacting to the same, Akram reckons Umran should have been with the Indian team in Australia and given a crack at the World Cup.

“That’s what I said as well (Brett Lee comment) when I had gone during the Asia Cup. You have this fast bowler… like we have Shaheen, Naseem, Haris… they all had pace. Now Umran has the pace too. I think in the summer, against Ireland, he got taken for a few runs, which is fine. In T20s, you do get taken for runs. After that they took him off. He is playing First-Class cricket now. But if you have pace, if he stays with you, plays with you, he will improve quicker. He will pick the mindset. But I think their think-tank is totally different,” Akram said on A-Sports.

Umran was included in India’s squad for the home T20I series against South Africa back in June but did not get a game. He made his India debut the following month against Ireland and England but returned figures of 0/14, 1/42 and 1/56 in the three T20Is. Umran was reportedly supposed to travel to Australia to be one of India’s net bowlers but those plans did not work out due to visa issues. Back in the domestic fold, Umran is currently playing for Jammu & Kashmir in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy where he has so far picked up eight wickets from six matches.

Akram’s fellow panelist Shoaib Malik however disagreed with his former Pakistan captain. When Malik said pointed out, “I feel it is the right decision because he is too raw. You can get polished by playing matches, Akram interrupted by saying: “Haris Rauf bhi toh raw hi aaya tha na? (Haris Rauf was raw too when he debuted, right?)”. And rightly so, since in less than two years, Haris has become one of Pakistan’s top fast bowlers having picked up 93 wickets from 65 limited-overs matches.

With Thanks Reference to: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cricket/haris-rauf-bhi-raw-hi-aaya-tha-na-waism-akram-reacts-to-brett-lee-s-best-sports-car-parked-in-garage-reference-for-umran-malik-101666355167903.html