Pat Cummins taught me how to approach the crease: Shaurya Malik

Shaurya Malik, through a display of accurate fast bowling in which he extracted significant bounce from the pitch at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground, broke the backbone of the West Delhi Lions batting line-up and kept his team in contention for a spot in the semi-finals of the inaugural Delhi Premier League.

Malik picked 3/13 and removed the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 – Vivek Yadav, Anmol Sharma, and Deepak Punia – to help his team Central Delhi Kings bowl out West Delhi Lions for 121 and win the match by 58 runs. The Kings had scored 179/7 in 20 overs with contributions from Vishant Bhati (42 off 31 balls), Aryan Rana (39 off 25 balls), and Jonty Sidhu (37 off 25 balls).

The victory helped the Kings stay in contention and now they have to just hope that North Delhi Strikers lose to East Delhi Riders on September 4 night. The Strikers have an inferior run rate. 

“I don’t think much about taking wickets. My job is to hit the deck and bowl in the right areas and make an aggressive start with wickets. That is what I followed,” said Malik, who is an MRF pace bowling foundation trainee.

“We realised today that the pitch today is slow, so we decided to bowl at the stumps, three-quarters of the length. I have been playing cricket since under-14 days. First time I represented Delhi was in under-16, then under-19 and last year I played for under-23.

“I am a trainee at MRF pace foundation. I have been playing for Bank of Baroda. Been coached by my father and inspired by him. Father Surinder Singh Malik is a sports teacher, therefore, he has emphasised on disciplined lifestyle and our circle is related to sports and whoever meets me tells me that I should be more involved in the game mentally than physically.”

The 21-year-old got an opportunity to pick the brains of former Australia pace bowler, Glenn McGrath while on a scholarship in Australia.  

“I went to Australia on a scholarship. Glenn McGrath has helped me a lot, giving great advice about sticking to basics and hitting the right length. I tried to get as much experience as I could get from McGrath like how to set which batsman, and how to dismiss. Also, on how to perform on Indian pitches. He always used to say, read the pitch, try to plan according to the pitch and then bowl according to your strengths. He advised me to focus on my strength instead of focussing on others’ weakness and backing myself even if I get hit for a four or a six.”

The right-armer also had a conversation with Australia Test skipper Pat Cummins during the preparatory camp nets of the Austraian team in Australia ahead of the 2023 World Test Championship Final.

“I had conversations with Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc as well. I personally believe those interactions help. I have been blessed to be a part of a club where I have been under the guidance of Gautam Gambhir as well.”

Explaining the lessons he picked from Cummins, Malik said, “I am not a big swinger of the ball, I believe in hitting the deck. Pat Cummins taught me how to approach the crease, how to plan batsman out. Because he has IPL experience, and he is a world cup-winning captain he knows so much.”

Tags : Shaurya Malik, Pat Cummins, Delhi Premier League, Cricket, Central Delhi Kings, Jonty Sidhu