Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is arguably one of the finest pacers India ever produced. Making his fiery debut in a T20I against Pakistan in 2012, the Meerut-born cricketer has scalped 90 wickets in the shortest format, with two five-wicket hauls. Over the years, he took Team India across the line on numerous occasions, with his blistering pace. However, Bhuvneshwar faced a lot of flak after he failed to leave a mark in the 2022 T20 World Cup. The 33-year-old pacer could only scalp four wickets in the entire tournament and leaked a lot of runs in the death overs. He played his last match for India against New Zealand in November 2022 and has been out of favor since then.
However, veteran wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik revealed that after a recent victory of Team India, head coach Rahul Dravid went on to praise Bhuvneshwar for his contribution to Indian cricket.
“At the start of a team meeting, Rahul Dravid literally spoke about him for five minutes. Just saying that he goes very unassumed, very quiet and I think it is very important to give the devil its due in a team meeting. He spoke about Bhuvneshwar Kumar and how he’s been profound in Indian cricket for the last so many years in white-ball cricket,” Karthik said on the show ‘The Rise of New India’ on Cricbuzz Plus.
“That was very good to hear because a lot of times we are always fascinated with batsmanship – people obviously hitting fours and sixes – but here is one guy who has consistently performed with the ball and been a prolific performer for Team India, apart from his franchise. A lot of credit must be given to Bhuvneshwar Kumar,” he added.
Bhuvneshwar has represented India in 21 Tests, 121 ODIs and 87 T20Is. In 21 Test matches, he has taken 63 wickets at an average of 26.09 and an economy rate of 2.94. His best bowling figures in innings are 6/82 in this format.
He is also a handy batter in the longest format, having 552 runs in 29 innings at an average of over 22 with three fifties. His best individual score in the format is 63*.
In 121 ODIs, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has taken 141 wickets at an average of 35.11 and an economy rate of 5.08. His best bowling figures in the format are 5/42.
Talking about Team India, the Rohit Sharma-led side has won the recently concluded four-match Test series against Australia 2-1. During the series, Australia defeated India in the third Test and sealed their place in the final of the World Test Championship, which is slated to be held in June this year, at the Oval.
On the other hand, India also qualified for the marquee event after Sri Lanka lost their first Test against New Zealand on Monday.