IPL 2022: Is Team India next for Umran Malik? Here's what experts feel

On Wednesday, Umran Malik of SunRisers Hyderabad rocked IPL 2022 following his latest fifer against Gujarat Titans. Meanwhile, experts were all-praise for the rising speedster.

Image credit: BCCI

It was a terrific performance from uncapped Indian pacer Umran Malik for former champion SunRisers Hyderabad against new side Gujarat Tians (GT) in the 2022 Indian Premier League's (IPL's) Match 40. Played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday, SRH lost by five wickets in a nail-biter. However, Malik impressed all with his fifer and became the first IPL bowler to dismiss the top five batters in a game.

Meanwhile, experts expressed their valuable opinions following Malik's performance as SRH skipper Kane Williamson noted, "He [Malik] has been bowling beautifully, an outstanding performance by him. If you are not on the money, the ball can fly anywhere."

Image credit: Getty

Australian opener Chris Lynn told ESPNCricinfo that Malik is ready for Team India and ICC T20 World Cup 2022. "From the outside looking in, definitely. I will factor the wickets are bouncy here in Australia, and you need that youth and just that guys haven't played against it. You keep going back to whom you drop because it is such a formidable [bowling] line-up, but I would love to see this guy [Malik] in the World Cup. He's going to take the world by the storm if he does get a chance at the international level. Luckily, I am not a selector for India," he assessed.

Former New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori considered, "That pace generates anxiety among batters and not just tailenders, it's all batters. We don't often see bowlers get around the 153-154 mark. That's exceptional pace. That's a rarity that we haven't seen, I suppose, consistently since the likes of [Brett] Lee, Shoaib Akhtar or Shaun Tait. So, to see that is a huge part of the game now. You can see the excitement factor. It brings a bit of X-factor."

On the other hand, former Indian Little Master Sunil Gavaskar said on-air, "The next for him [Malik], I think, is the Indian team. He might not play in the XI because India has Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav. So, he might not play. But, just travelling with the group, travelling with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, sharing the dressing room with them, look what will happen to him!"