Umran Malik shows his potential, wreaks havoc against Pujara's Saurashtra in Irani Cup

The Rest of India's fast bowler Umran Malik on Saturday wreaked havoc against Saurashtra in their ongoing Irani Trophy match in Rajkot. Umran, who has represented India at the highest level, picked three wickets in the game as he dismissed Arpit Vasavada, Jaydev Unadkat, and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja to further sink the Saurashtra innings. Umran's impactful bowling helped the Rest of India bowl Saurashtra out for just 98 runs in their first innings.

Saurashtra's star-studded lineup also included veteran India batter Cheteshwar Pujara, who failed to contribute in the match as he was dismissed for 1 off 4 balls by Kuldeep Sen. None of the players in the top five of the Saurashtra batting order were able to cross the two-digit mark in terms of runs scored. Jadeja top-scored for the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy champions with 28 off 36 balls, while Vasavada scored 22 off 19 balls. 

Mukesh Kumar on fire

Mukesh Kumar provided the first breakthrough for the Rest of India's team as he picked two back-to-back wickets in the third over of the first innings. Mukesh dismissed Harvik Desai and Chirag Jani for ducks. Kuldeep Sen then removed Pujara for 1 run before Mukesh came back again to send Snell Patel back to the pavilion for 4 runs. Umran dismissed Vasavada for 22 runs in the 10th over of the innings. Mukesh picked his fourth wicket by removing Sheldon Jackson for 2 runs in the very next over. 

Umran and Kuldeep then bowled in tandem to dismiss the rest of Saurashtra's batting lineup. Saurashtra played just 24.5 overs before getting all-out for 98 runs. The Rest of India team is currently batting in their first innings and has scored 173/3 in 35 overs at the time of publishing this copy. They have a lead of 75 runs over Saurashtra. Hanuma Vihari and Sarfaraz Khan are intact in the middle at scores of 52 and 103 runs, respectively. 

Jaydev Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya have picked three wickets between them. While Unadkat has picked two wickets to his name, Sakariya scalped one wicket. Earlier in the match, Rest of India captain Hanuma Vihari won the toss and elected to field first at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot. 

Image: Twitter/BCCIDomestic