Indian fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has played 121 ODIs for the Indian team, but he’s been part of only 21 Test matches. The 33-year-old Bhuvneshwar Kumar hasn’t played Tests since the South Africa series in 2018. Now, he’s back in action in the Ranji Trophy series, looking at the Test series between India and England starting on January 25.
After six years, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is playing for Uttar Pradesh in the group stage. In the league match against Bengal, he took an impressive 5/25 wickets on the first day, bowling just 13 overs.
In addition to taking 231 wickets in white-ball cricket, including 141 in 121 ODIs, Bhuvi has secured 63 wickets in 21 Tests. His best performance in a single match was 8/96 against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens.
After almost seven years, Bhuvi played for Uttar Pradesh (UP) in a first-class match and continued to surprise Bengal’s batters with his swing on Day Two. He had earlier taken 5/25 in 13 overs on Day One.
Bhuvi dismissed several Bengal players, including Sourav Paul (13), Shreyansh Ghosh (41), Sudip Kumar Gharami (0), Anustup Majumdar (12), Manoj Tiwary (3), Abishek Porel (12), Pradipta Pramanik (1), and Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal (20). Yash Dayal took the remaining two wickets, and Bengal was dismissed for 188 in response to UP’s first innings score of 60 all out. On Saturday, Bhuvaneshwar started strong by removing Ghosh and continued his excellent performance. UP coach Sunil Joshi praised Bhuvi’s consistency and expressed hope that national selectors had noticed his performance.
Bhuvneshwar’s last appearance for the national team was in November 2022. His impressive comeback in the match with the red ball is likely to boost the confidence of the experienced bowler, who aspires to represent India again.
In the second innings, Uttar Pradesh was at 46/0 in 18 overs when the day ended due to bad light. Samarth Singh and Aryan Juyal were at the crease, with Uttar Pradesh trailing Bengal by 82 runs.
Despite being dropped from Tests in 2018, Bhuvneshwar Kumar hasn’t played for the Indian team since 2022. In a move to give chances to younger players, he was excluded from the team despite being in good form.
In the Ranji Trophy match, Uttar Pradesh scored only 60/10 against Bengal. Bengal then scored 188/10 in the first innings, taking a significant lead. In the second innings, Uttar Pradesh scored 46/0, trailing by 82 runs. The third day of the match is currently in progress.
The Indian team for the Test series against England starting from January 25 has been announced. While the squad for the first two matches is out, it’s expected that players performing in the Ranji Trophy series will get a chance in the squad for the last 3 matches.
Also Read: IPL 2024 Auction, First Auctioneer Richard Madley Wishes Luck to Debutant Mallika Sagar
