Umar Nazir among ‘players to watch out for ’ in IPL auction

Tribune News Service

Twenty-three-year-old pacer from Jammu and Kashmir, Umar Nazir, has been listed among the ‘Players to watch’ during the auction for the 10th edition of the Indian Premiere League (IPL), 2017, season.

The auction for the highly lucrative and popular Twenty20 domestic cricket competition is going to take place in Bangalore at 9 am tomorrow. Umar Nazir and Parvez Rasool from J&K are among the 730 players listed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the IPL auction.

According to an influential cricket news website, CricBuzz, Umar Nazir’s performance in the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Inter Zonal Cricket Trophy, with an impressive economy rate of 4.57 would certainly spark interest among IPL franchises.

“With the 2017 IPL auction set to take place on Monday (February 20) in Bangalore, we decided to zero in on the players who could be in high demand,” CricBuzz said while listing Umar Nazir among the eight players from across the world to be watched during the auction.

The eight “players to watch out for” who have been shortlisted by CricBuzz include big-hitting English batsman Ben Stokes, another English cricketer Jason Roy, South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir, South African pacer Kagiso Rabada, Tamil Nadu fast bowler T Natarajan, New Zealand all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme, Karnataka all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham and J&K pacer Umar Nazir.

Hailing from the Malikpora area of Pulwama town, Umar, at 6.4 feet, is two inches shorter than India’s bowling mainstay Ishant Sharma but a yard or two quicker.

Belonging to a middle class family that is into timber business, Umar, the only son of his parents, says cricket is his “lifetime partner.”

Inspired by Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath, Umar aspires to play for the Indian cricket team. His coach Mushtaq says Umar has a great potential and hopefully can rise as a new star.

“He was different than others when I picked him from Srinagar,” Mushtaq said, recalling the day when he admitted him into a cricket academy in Mumbai. “He was molded and got the exposure.”

Abdul Qayoom Bagav, who is J&K Ranji team coach, says Umar’s classical side arm action helped him to generate 140 km per hour for long spells and his pace does not fall much even when the ball is old.

Besides the J&K Cricket Association and BCCI, Umar also plays for Tata Sports Club, Mumbai.