Ranji Trophy | It was about changing Umran’s mindset: J&K’s bowling coach Krishnakumar

J&K bowling coach changes Umran Malik's mindset, helping him pitch the ball up and swing it both ways.

Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) bowling coach P. Krishnakumar on Sunday said that he had to change India pacer Umran Malik’s mindset to make him feel confident of pitching the ball up and swinging it both ways at his natural speed.

“Earlier, he was pitching it a little short and was not able to swing the ball regularly. But now, he’s swinging the ball regularly, and his pitching has gone between 6 and 7 metres which is fantastic.

“He also feels like, ‘I’m confident that I can pitch it there.’ If you want to play at the International level, I feel you have to go to that channel between 6 and 7 metres, then only you can get the edges,” he said after Jammu & Kashmir’s 19-run win over Pondicherry at the Cricket Association of Pondicherry (CAP) Siechem ground here.

The coach said he had a long chat with the pacer on his absence from the National squad. “Obviously, we had a long chat. He has played for India, he knows everything. It was more about changing his mindset. That was very important. Because, he had the mindset, ‘I will bowl quick.’ At the end of the day, the right-hand column (wickets column in the bowling analysis) is very important in Indian cricket. We go by quantity. You have to have wickets if you want to get selected. There’s no doubt he has been given a lot of chances to play for India on the basis of the talent he has. But at the end of the day, I feel the right-hand column is very important.”

The 50-year-old said he kept sending Umran video clips of great pacers to force the change in mindset. “What I did was, I sent him almost 100 videos - of (James) Anderson, of (Andrew) Flintoff, and all the great bowlers. I forced him to think. You have to pitch it up there if you want to take wickets in international cricket.”

“Almost everyday, he was getting a video. So, then, it changes the mindset. Now, he’s bowling fantastically well and I think he should get a nod in the Indian team.”

Former Rajasthan pacer, Krishnakumar had to bust the myth that it’s hard to control the ball when bowling at great speed. “Dale Steyn, Brett Lee, (Jasprit) Bumrah. There are a lot of examples. There are a lot of myths going around. Because he’s a young boy, he listens to all those myths, and it goes into the mind. So, I forced him by sending the videos to think like that (differently). Like, ‘No, I can swing it.’”