IND vs SA, 3rd T20I: Umran Malik is X-factor of Team India says Zaheer Khan ahead of do-or-die match for Rishabh Pant's side

Rishabh Pant-led Team India will take on South Africa in the third game of the five-match T20I series at the Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam on Tuesday. This will be a do-or-die contest for the Indian cricket team after losing the first two games of the series. The Indian team mangement could look to make a few changes in playing XI in the third T20I as the bowlers have let down Pant in the series so far. IPL 2022's bowling sensation Umran Malik is warming the bench at the moment and many cricket pundits have expressed that he should make his debut in the third T20I. 

Match day feels on a non-match day. 

A packed stadium here in Cuttack to watch #TeamIndia train. #INDvSA | @Paytm pic.twitter.com/lLYwx06Jk3 — BCCI (@BCCI) June 11, 2022

Former India cricketer Zaheer Khan has said that Umran Malik could be the X-factor for Team India in the ongoing T20I series. Zaheer also pointed out that Umran has troubled South Africa's David Miller in the recently concluded IPL 2022. Miller continued his top-notch form from IPL into the bilateral series. 

"Extra pace can be handy. That is something that I feel, we have seen in IPL as well. You have seen Umran get (David) Miller out as well on one occasion with the ball coming around the wicket, bowling really fast. So, that's something that can be a good match-up. With (Heinrich) Klaasen as well, the way he was batting if you get that extra pace, the x-factor. He can go for runs as well, but you need to have that x-factor. Something different which will maybe have that impact. So, I think the inclination will be towards Umran for the next match," Zaheer Khan said in a discussion on Cricbuzz.

In Umran's first full season of playing in the IPL, he was in top form for Sunrisers Hyderabad, picking 22 wickets from 14 matches at an average of 20.18 and economy rate of 9.03, picking one four-wicket haul and five-wicket haul respectively and playing an instrumental role in picking wickets for his franchise in the middle overs phase. He was also named the emerging player of the season at the end of the competition.