Former India coach Ravi Shastri has said that BCCI should issue a central contract for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) bowler Umran Malik "straightaway." Shastri encouraged the BCCI to keep Malik in the mix and give him the opportunity to learn from the key guys, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami.

The former India all-rounder made the remarks following another great performance for SRH against the Mumbai Indians in an IPL 2022 encounter at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.

"Central contract straightaway for him (Umran Malik). Don't let him float around, keep him in the mix with the main players and let him learn by being around the Shami and Bumrah and see the way they train, the way they manage their workload but don't let him go astray," Shastri told ESPNCricinfo.

Malik gave up runs in his first over, but in his second spell, he had a significant impact on the game by dismissing Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, and Daniel Sams. The MI batters were rattled by Malik's biggest strength, speed.

In the match, in which SRH won by three runs, Malik returned with figures of 3/23 in his three overs.

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Malik, according to Shastri, needs to be more consistent with his lines and attack the stumps more without slowing down.

"Just tell him to do what he does best. Bowl fast... Also, educate him on the lines you've got to bowl. Tell him to focus on those three stumps. You get that right first. After that, you can try and learn whatever other skills you want to add. And I promise you this guy is gonna be a handful in red-ball cricket. If you add this guy to Bumrah and Shami I think the Indian attack is going to be a serious one.”

"I think he'll get better and better. Look at the lines he is bowling now. You don't want him to cut down on pace. The last thing you'd want to tell him is while looking for control you cut down on pace. What you want him to do is get his lines right. If he can attack the stumps consistently varying his length, he will trouble anyone. And he can really rattle a new guy coming in because he's got the pace, he can keep the batter on his toes but it's that line if he can hit the right areas without reducing his pace, it'll make a huge difference," Shastri added.

Malik, who is from Jammu and Kashmir, is the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the IPL 2022, with 21 scalps in 13 games. He's also bowled the fastest delivery of the event, at 157 km/h, and many believe he's capable of going faster.

(ESPNCricinfo inputs)