‘We don’t even know where Umran Malik is…..’ – Former India cricketer questions star pacer’s absence from Indian squad

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra was perplexed by Umran Malik’s absence in the upcoming T20I series against Afghanistan. Notably, the Indian Cricket Board has made the comebacks of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli; however, Umran Malik, Shreyas Iyer, and some notable omissions are here in the squad considering this is the last and final preparation for the T20 World Cup 2024.

However, Aakash Chopra questioned Umran Malik’s absence in the series despite being part of the West Indies tour. The former India opener recalled that he felt the right-arm pacer would be in the ODI World Cup 2023 squad after the West Indies; however, he wasn’t there and got minimum chances earlier, but now he is completely absent from all forms of squads despite his great bowling spells. Moreover, Chopra has said that one should know the reason for his omission from the squad.

“Till some time back, Umran Malik was everywhere. We took him to the West Indies as well and it seemed like he could be in the World Cup team too but now he is not there in any of the teams. He doesn’t even get selected for India A. What happened within three months that a guy first gets selected for the Indian team, gets very minimum chances there, and then goes totally missing? We don’t even know where Umran Malik is.  We should know why this is happening,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

Shreyas Iyer scored a fifty in the last match against Australia as well: Aakash Chopra

The cricketer-turned-analyst also talks about Shreyas Iyer’s omission from the team despite his great form in T20I. In addition, the 46-year-old cricketer feels the 29-year-old batter was part of the Australia and South Africa series, so he must be part of the T20I  against the Afghanistan series as well.

“He scored a fifty in the last match against Australia as well. Then he went to South Africa as well but now he is not in the team. Why is he not there? If he was a part of your team, what happened to him now, suddenly? What will you tell Shreyas Iyer, that why hasn’t he been picked?,” he added further.