After a long injury layoff, there was an expectation, that Umran Malik, the 150 kmph would finally be fully fit and play an entire season of cricket, to be able to come back into the Indian side. His IPL side had also shown his confidence; KKR had retained him for IPL 2026, for a price of 75 lakh.
Umran Malik axed from J&K squad
And those were all positive steps. But then, a new development in domestic cricket only shows, that there could be further form and fitness concerns. On Saturday, he was left out of J&K’s Ranji Trophy squad for the second phase of the tournament, which could be huge setback for the 26-year-old.
For the record, he played only one Ranji match in the ongoing season, vs Rajasthan, where he did not even pick up a wicket. Come the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he played 5 matches and ended up bagging 6 wickets. It is noteworthy, that the Ranji snub has come after he was not picked in J&K squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy as well.
No clarity on reason for omission
The board is yet to provide a clarity, if this snub was due to his bad form or fitness issues; now he would be seen in action next, during the IPL 2026. Meanwhile, J&K’s Ranji Squad remained on expected lines, where Parag Dogra would lead the side. There would also be proven performers in the team like Abdul Samad and Auqib Nabi.
J&K Full squad for Ranji Trophy phase 2: Shubham Khajuria, Auqib Nabi, Abdul Samad, Paras Dogra, Dikshant Kundal, Yawar Hassan, Shubham Pundir, Kanhaiya Wadhwan, Kawalpreet Singh, Abid Mustaq, Vanshaj Sharma, Sahil Lotra, Yudhvir Singh, Umar Nazir, Sunil Kumar.
