š From the Wilderness
Umran Malik's rapid rise, the women's football league finally kicking off & Pujara's county exploits
Did you know there were two sunrises today? In other news, the BwC episode with Surya is now streaming.
Umran Malikās Rise and Rise
Hereās the thing about first impressions - a bad one takes a long time to mend and a good one takes you a long way. In the case of Umran Malik, the first impression heās left on people in the last couple of years has fuelled his rapid aspect.
āWhoās this guy? He has raw talent and bowls around 135 to 140kphā, a stunned senior J&K Ranji cricketer told a local coach overseeing a net session at the MA Stadium in Jammu. The said cricketer had dropped in for a few minutes at the net session and found himself being blown away by this young pacer. His jaw would have fallen further if heād known that it was this pacerās first ever time bowling in the nets. Or that heād only recently upgraded from tennis-ball cricket.
At the time, Malik was creating waves in the local Jammu cricket circuit. His fiery pace and heft blows had garnered quite a reputation and his closed shaved head and muscular physique had earned him the āGhajiniā moniker. The only reason he was at that net session in the MA Stadium was because his friends had encouraged him to further his game. At the end of the session, the coach told him to start coming to the ground on a daily basis.
When he went for the U-19 trials for the J&K team, he was told that he wasnāt eligible because he hadnāt played any district cricket. Unfazed, Malik decided to go again the next day.
"I went to nets and as they didn't know whether I had played district or not, I started bowling. I just bowled one ball and the selector came to me and said, 'You will be in the team, don't worry. Just keep yourself ready,ā he said in an interview to Cricinfo.
Opportunities were limited in the U-19 team; the only game he was picked for ended up being a wash out. The following year he also failed to make the cut for the U-23 team. But an unforeseen opportunity in the 2019-2020 Ranji season rescued him from the throes of uncertainty heād found himself in.
Assam coach Ajay Ratra had requested a few net bowlers for his team in preparation for their game against J&K in Jammu and Malik found himself among the chosen few.
He bowled just four balls before being asked to stop by Ratra, who feared he might injure his bowlers. When the former Indian wicketkeeper found that Malik wasnāt a part of the senior team, he made a case for his inclusion to the J&K cricket officials and also spoke to the captain and coach. This incident took place in December 2019 and by February 2020, Malik was in the J&K Ranji squad.
For the 2020 IPL, he was picked by SRH as a bowler and the same trend continued. Cricinfo reported that after facing a couple of balls, Kedar Jadhav asked him if he was in the squad or a net bowler. Jonny Bairstow actually asked him to bowl slower but owing to Malikās difficulties with the language, he continued to bowl fast before being told by someone to slow down!
SRH brought him back as a net bowler the following year and when T Natarajan contracted COVID, Malik was roped in. The consistency with which he hit the 150kph mark against KKR on his IPL debut created a buzz. Against RCB in the following game, he hit a top speed of 152.95kph and despite being on the losing side, itās all anyone could talk about after the game.
"This tournament throws up talent every year, good to see a guy bowling at 150 clicks. It is important to understand the progress of individuals from hereon," Kohli said.
"The pool of fast bowlers being strong is always a good sign for Indian cricket and whenever you see talent like this, you are going to have your eyes on them and make sure you maximise their potential which is already being seen at the IPL level."
He made his India A debut the following month and despite playing just 3 games for the franchise, would go on to be retained by SRH ahead of the mega-auctions.
Itās ironic that the man who was once dubbed āGhajiniā is such an unforgettable entity.
The IWL and the sorry state of Womenās Football
The Indian Womenās League, the top-tier football competition featuring 12 teams, kicked off last Friday. If you didnāt know about the existence of the IWL, we donāt blame you. For the longest time, we felt the AIFF had too.
This yearās IWL is just the fifth ever edition and is back after being put on a two year hiatus since February 2020 due to the pandemic. In this same period, two ISL seasons, 1 I-League season and I-League 2nd division have been held. Tut tut.
The AIFFās negligence of the womenās game feels more harrowing when you realise that the Indian Womenās team is ranked 59th in the world as compared to the men who are 106th. In fact, ever since the inception of FIFAās ranking system the men have never ranked above the women.
In the last two years, Indian women footballers have only played a handful of games. While the IWL is a welcome return to action, it goes on for only three weeks. Some have argued that it should be called a tournament, not a league. The short duration of the tournament has consequences for players beyond just playing time. Sponsors are unwilling to come onboard for a yearly three-week tournament and thereby the league remains cash-strapped. India goalkeeper, who plays for Gokulam Kerala, believes increasing the length of the IWL so that it goes around the year will provide a lot of financial security to players.
A change in the format this year is a tiny step in the right direction. In 2019, the 12 teams were split into two groups, with each team playing five games. A round-robin format has been adopted this year, so that each team gets to play at least 11 games.
In the 5 years since its inception, the number of participating teams have doubled and yet barring Gokulam Kerala no team from the ISL or I-League have competed in the IWL. Itās an indictment thatās made more devastating when you realise the AIFF offers teams from the ISL and I-League an easier route to qualification.
A well functioning and well-backed IWL will go a long way in solving some of the problems Indian football is beset by - it will make the sport a viable career option for young footballers, encourage states to improve infrastructure, give Indian football a much needed marketing push and help put the women on par with the men.
The U-17 World Cup being held in India in October will raise the profile of Indian football globally. Weāve probably run out of time to put ourselves in the best position to ride that wave. But, itās not too late to act.
As fans, the least we can do right now to support the womenās game is lend our attention. Eyeballs rake in sponsors.
Till May 26th, there are IWL matches everyday at 4pm and 7:30pm. 30 out of the 66 games will be shown on Eurosport and the rest can be viewed on the Indian Football YouTube channel.
Person of Interest
Russiaās invasion of Ukraine (that is still ongoing, in case youād forgotten) inadvertently pushed back Cheteshwar Pujaraās county stint for Sussex. There was a delay in his visa being processed as the UK Home Office was occupied with helping displaced Ukrainians.
It led to him missing the opening game of the season but the delayed debut was worth the wait. His 201* against Derbyshire made him only the 2nd ever Indian to score a double century in county cricket. Following on 331 runs behind, Pujara and Tom Haines shared a 351 run partnership to secure a remarkable draw for Sussex from what was an impossible position. Pujara now has 14 double-hundreds in first class cricket, the most by any Asian player.
Interestingly, Pujaraās debut in the English county came with Derbyshire in 2014. This is his fourth stint in the English county championship, the last of which came in 2018 with Yorkshire. He had signed a deal to play with Gloucestershire in 2020 but COVID happen.
Amidst all the frenzy and frolic of the IPL, thereās something oddly calming about seeing Pujara rack up the runs in white.
Direct Hits
Last week, Dinesh Karthik detailed his ambitions to make a comeback into the national team and help India lift the T20 World Cup later this year in Australia. But, this is old news for 22 Yarns listeners.
On our podcast last year, DK spoke at length of the surplus of top-order batters in the Indian setup and how he wants to carve out a niche for himself as a finisher and be the guy who gets 20(7) in each game. On the day we released our BwC episode with Surya, itās only right that you also listen to our podcast with the Sunshine Guy!
Question of the Week:
Which English county team did Rahul Dravid play for?
Reply to this email with your answer and stand a chance to be featured on our social media. Send us your IG/Twitter handles with your answer so that we can tag you!
In last weekās edition:
Dipika Pallikal breaking gender stereotypes
Cricket, bullying & Yuzi Chahal
The Pravin Tambe biopic
Read it here!
If youāve scrolled so far, why not deepen your relationship with us and subscribe? The best stories from Indian sport, delivered into your inbox every Tuesday!