The Indian cricket team is on the brink of losing a home series after they were beaten by South Africa in the second T20I in Cuttack. It was Team's second consecutive against the Proteas, having lost the first match in Delhi as well. The defeat at the Barabati Stadium, however, came after India's premier fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar restricted the Temba Bavuma-led side to 29/3 in the sixth over. The visitors had a small target of 149 to chase and they eventually did it with aplomb as wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen unleashed an astonishing assault on India's spinners. By the time Heinrich Klaasen's carnage was stopped, he had smashed 81 off 46 balls, and South Africa achieved a straightforward four-wicket win with 10 balls to spare. The legendary Zaheer Khan, however, didn't like the way India allowed South Africa to get away, especially when they were feeling the heat at 29/3 in the powerplay.

According to Zaheer Khan, Team India will have to sustain the pressure for long periods against the opposition if they wish to end their 15-year drought in the T20 World Cup later this year. The global event is scheduled to take place in Australia in October and November.

While Zaheer Khan was happy with India's bowling performance at the start of the Proteas run chase with Bhuvneshwar Kumar doing all the damage, having picked up three South African wickets inside the powerplay, he wasn't impressed with how easily India gave up on the game, once Bhuvi was taken out of the attack.

“That is the worry. You are creating a platform from where you can win a game of cricket but you are not able to close it. When this happens, your morale and the processes which you are following gets damaged. That is what you don't want right now with a big World Cup coming up,” Zaheer Khan said in conversation on Cricbuzz.

“You want to make a habit of winning games regardless of who is taking the field. I know that key players are not part of the series. You still have a brand of cricket which you have been playing and created those platforms for and to win games and you are not able to close it. The culture in the team is very important to protect,” the former India pacer added.

“It's not going to be easy to go and win all three games coming up. It is a good challenge as well. You have a day of travel and then you take the field, it's not going to be easy,” he mentioned.

Zaheer Khan also unveiled the secret behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar's success despite not having the express pace some other bowlers in the Indian team have.

Zaheer Khan has more than 300 Test wickets to his name and knows a thing or two about fast bowling. He believes that because Bhuvneshwar Kumar keeps things simple – hitting the right areas on the pitch on most occasions, is what makes him so successful in international cricket.

“He keeps things very simple. He has the experience of playing at this level and he keeps it wicket to wicket. He hits those areas and lengths, brings the balls back into the right handers and some hold their shape or he takes them away. That is what he does brilliantly,” Zaheer Khan explained.

“When (Dwaine) Pretorius was there, he knew that his role was to be attacking and take that extra risk. So he used the knuckle ball. He understands exactly what to use for which player. He is an experienced campaigner. Fitness has been an issue but now it is just about maintaining himself. What we are going to get from Bhuvi is always going to be the same,” he concluded.

The Indians are missing several big names in the series against South Africa with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah rested ahead of next month's high-profile tour of England.

Besides, the Indians are also without opener KL Rahul and spinner Kuldeep Yadav who sustained injuries on the eve of the first T20I in the national capital.

The next game of the series between the two times will be played on Tuesday at the picturesque YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA (Andhra Cricket Association/Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association) Stadium situated on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam.

India squad: Rishabh Pant (Captain and wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik

SA Squad: Temba Bavuma (Captain), Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen (wicketkeeper), Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Marco Jansen.