Once the king of swing, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has fallen off the rails. Since the customary series against New Zealand immediately after the T20 World Cup 2022 exit, Bhuvneshwar has not found a place in the India Cricket Team, even in the Cricket World Cup. But the 34-year-old is likely to return to the fold once again with 7 months left for another T20 World Cup. With the entire senior pace battery being rested, Bhuvneshwar will have one shot at redemption in IND vs AUS T20 series.
With 16 wickets in 7 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches, Bhuvneshwar Kumar announced that he was not done yet. He also bagged a fifer against a star-studded Karnataka in the Mushtaq Ali. Now, he is set for a return in the IND vs AUS T20 series.
“The selectors are likely to rest all the senior bowlers. In such a scenario, we need an experienced seamer like Bhuvneshwar to lead the attack. He may be recalled,” a BCCI source confirmed to TOI.
Does Bhuvneshwar Kumar deserve call-up?
After being left out of the squad following a poor run of form, Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned to IPL 2023. But he had no luck there either. In 14 games, he bagged 16 wickets for an economy rate of 8.33, his worst ever in IPL.
As a result, he was not considered for the West Indies tour. And he did not get back to the ODI setup either. It led to missing the Cricket World Cup as well.
However, since then, he has returned to form. In the Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he bagged 16 wickets at an economy rate of just 5.84.
As India will have a relatively young bunch of players, who are inexperienced, Bhuvneshwar Kumar could lead the pace attack in IND vs AUS T20 series. With focus on T20 World Cup preparations, Bhuvneshwar Kumar will have this one shot before the big guns return.
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