“Just doesn’t want to play Tests anymore” – Bhuvneshwar Kumar has lost the drive to play Test Cricket
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Bhuvneshwar Kumar
India is all set for the UK tour to play New Zealand in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final and then a five-match Test series against England. The 24 men squad, including the standby players, does not feature Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s name which was hard to digest for many.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, with his incredible ability to swing the new ball, would have been an invaluable weapon for India in the England conditions. Bhuvneshwar last featured for India in Tests was way back in 2018 against South Africa. Despite missing the next several Tests due to injury, the England tour looked like a perfect chance for him to return to the red-ball team.
However, sources close to the situation say that Bhuvi has lost his ‘drive’ to play the longer format and is now only focused on T20 cricket, especially the T20 World Cup.
Sources confirm Bhuvneshwar Kumar is focused only on T20s
A source spoke to The Times of India about why Bhuvneshwar was not picked. “Bhuvneshwar Kumar is focusing on the next T20 opportunities coming up. Bhuvneshwar just doesn’t want to play Test cricket anymore. That drive has gone missing. To be honest, the selectors don’t even see Bhuvi hungry for 10 overs, forget Test cricket. It’s Team India’s loss no doubt because if one bowler should have made it to England, it should have been him,” said the source.
“Those tracking the bowler’s career and cricket say he is focussing on the next T20 opportunities coming up. Those who have seen him from close insist he brought in a huge change in his work-drills a couple of seasons ago, doing away with heavyweight training, falling to the lure of the white-ball comfort, and avoiding those hours of long spells that are so integral to red-ball cricket,” the source added.
Bhuvneshwar was in superb form during the home white-ball series against England after getting fit and providing fine results in the Syed Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare tournaments. He did, however, sustain a minor injury during the now-suspended IPL 2021.
Bhuvneshwar has 63 wickets at an average of 26.1 in 21 Tests, including some outstanding performances outside of India. He is a strong candidate to be included in India’s white-ball squad for the July tour to Sri Lanka.
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Mohamed Azhar
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