Credit: X
Pacer Umran Malik, who missed the entire 2024-25 domestic season and the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 due to injuries, is ready to make a comeback with his appearance in the Buchi Babu tournament getting played in Chennai. The tournament will enter its second round on August 22 and the speedster will feature for Jammu & Kashmir against Baroda. Last year, Malik picked up a hamstring and hip injury which impacted him severely. However, after recovering from both injuries, Umran feels he is now ready to compete in domestic cricket.
Speaking to the media ahead of his team’s match against Baroda, Umran said, "I'm feeling good. I haven't played cricket for a long time. I was injured for seven-eight months. It was a struggling phase. It feels really good to be back. I have played a lot of red-ball and T20 matches in Kashmir. It was our registration camp. We have come to Chennai for the Buchi Babu [tournament]. It is good to play as many matches as I can. It is good for my body's workload. I've come back and will do well in the season. That's my aim.”
Malik went through rehabilitation for a long time and during that process, he spent six months at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru, where he got the team that helped him regain his fitness. Umran added, “Nishanta [Bordoloi, strength and conditioning coach] was helping me. Thulasi [Ram Yuvaraj, physio] sir and Suresh [Rathore, physio] sir and [VVS] Laxman [CoE chief] sir - he gave me everything [I needed]. Thanks to the BCCI.”
Umran Malik’s last outing in competitive cricket
Umran played his last competitive game for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) against Mumbai Indians (MI) in Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) game played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in March 2024. This year, he was signed up by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for IPL 2025 but couldn’t show up due to an injury.
Umran has also represented India in 18 international games. In T20 Internationals (T20I), the speedster has played eight T20Is, in which he has got 11 wickets at an economy of 10.48 while in One-Day Internationals (ODI), he picked up 13 wickets in nine innings of 10 contests.
