'We need to be realistic': Rahul Dravid on Umran Malik's potential debut for India in South Africa T20I series

Umran Malik earned his dream maiden call up in India's T20I squad after an exceptional season with the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. Malik, who is gifted with natural pace, showcased his skills after being backed by the SRH team management and consistently clocked over 150 kmph to trouble the batters.

While he bowled with express pace, a rare commodity in Indian cricket, Umran also worked on his line and length to continue improving throughout the season. The 23-year-old finished as SRH's highest wicket-taker with 23 wickets to his name to be deservingly named in India's squad for the upcoming T20I series against the Proteas.

Ahead of the first ODI between the two sides at the Arun Jaitely Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday, India head coach Rahul Dravid spoke about the chances of Umran's potential debut in the South Africa series. Dravid believes Umran is learning and improving but they need to be realistic when it comes to giving the youngster some playing time during the series as he has a big squad at his disposal.

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"Obviously, he is learning. He is a young boy and he is getting better, improving. The more he is able to play, the better he is going to get. From our perspective, (we are) very happy to have someone like him in the mix. We have to see how much playing time we can give him, we need to be realistic, we have a large squad, it is not possible to give everyone playing XI time," Dravid said at the pre-match presser in Delhi.

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Apart from Umran, India have also roped in Arshdeep Singh, who has been impressing for Punjab Kings ovr the last few seasons in the IPL. The young left-arm pacer is known for his consistent yorkers and ability to hit the right areas under pressure in the death overs. Besides the duo, India also have the likes of Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan along with the experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar to carry the pace attack.

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Dravid said he would like to give game time to both Umran and Arshdeep while also ensuring that the likes of Harshal, Avesh and Bhuvneshwar are not in and out of the playing XI too much. Dravid said he would like to give his players time to settle down and not chop and change too much.

"I think I am certainly someone who likes to have that consistency, give people time and let him feel settled in position. It would be interesting to see how much playing time we give to Umran. We also have Arshdeep here, who is brilliant as well. We have experience in the form of guys who have been with us before; Harshal, Bhuvi, Avesh," said Dravid.

"There are certain things we need to look at but it is nice and exciting to have a couple of young guys in the mix as well. It has given an opportunity for us to broaden our pool and see what they can do," added the India head coach.