Despite the fact that Kane Williamson's Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) were defeated by Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022's 40th match at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday, pacer Umran Malik drew attention with his blazing spell.

The 22-year-old fast bowler from Jammu City took five wickets and wowed the crowd with his sheer pace and ability to deliver crushing yorkers.

Umran's 5/25 is the best bowling figure in the ongoing IPL 2022 season, and Sunrisers' fast bowling coach Dale Steyn lavished rich praise on the young speedster, adding that he is "very close" to donning the India team jersey.

The 38-year-old former world number one Test bowler stated in a video shared by SRH's official Twitter handle on Thursday.

"Umran was incredible. If anyone believed he'd play for India before the competition, I believe he's sealed his place in the Indian squad for the foreseeable future. It's possible that I'm going to have to eat my words. He was fantastic tonight, "After the Sunrisers' third loss in eight games", Steyn stated.

"The pitch conditions suited him perfectly, as it did for somebody like (Mohammed) Shami, and he ran in and hit the deck really hard. Bowled straight lines really quickly and disturbed the timber quite often. He was absolutely marvelous," he added.

Umran was one of three players retained by the Hyderabad-based club ahead of this year's blockbuster auction, and he has 15 wickets in eight matches so far, behind only Rajasthan Royals spinner Yuzvendra Chahal in the battle for the Purple Cap.