Seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar recently opened up about his chances of donning the India colours again, saying that only the selectors can answer if he’ll be back in the national team or not. Kumar hasn’t played for India since 2022 with his last ODI coming against South Africa in January of 2022 and his last T20I was vs New Zealand in November of the same year.
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“The selectors will give you the answer to that. My job is to give my 100% on the field, and I am doing that. After the UP League, if I get a chance to play for the senior state teams in the Mushtaq Ali, Ranji, or one-day formats, I will try to perform my best there as well. As a disciplined bowler, my focus is on my fitness and my line-and-length. No matter how well you perform, sometimes luck doesn’t favor you,” Bhuvneshwar said in an interaction with Dainik Jagran.
Bhuvneshwar not slowing down
Bhuvneshwar, who has 141 scalps in ODIs and 91 in T20Is, was picked up by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League auctions last year for Rs 10.75 crore after he was released from Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The pacer picked up 17 wickets in 14 matches for the franchise, helping them to their first IPL title, defeating Punjab Kings in the final earlier this year.
Bhuvneshwar is currently captaining the Lucknow Falcons in the UP T20 League where he has guided them to the playoffs and are playing the Eliminator against Gaur Gorakhapur Lions on Wednesday. He has also taken 9 wickets in the league.
Last year, Kumar had become the first India pacer to complete 300 T20 wickets during Uttar Pradesh’s opening Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match against Delhi. 90 of Bhuvneshwar’s career wickets have come in national colours between 2012 and 2022, making him the second-highest wicket-taking pacer for India.
The swing king from Meerut made his T20 debut in a Champions League T20 game in 2009 for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. He went wicketless in his maiden outing, conceding 31 runs in four overs against Delhi Daredevils.
