“Didn’t realize I needed to add pace” – Bhuvneshwar Kumar on the need to increase speed while bowling swing


“Didn’t realize I needed to add pace” – Bhuvneshwar Kumar on the need to increase speed while bowling swing

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is an excellent exponent of swing bowling. The right-arm pacer has been one of the most important bowlers for India over the course of the last few years. Despite injuries robbing him of plenty of game-time, Bhuvneshwar has delivered whenever his team has required him to. Both in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and for the Indian team in limited-overs, he is a vital cog in the wheel.

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Bhuvneshwar started off as a swing bowler who bowled regularly in the 120s with regard to pace. Later, the bowler learned to increase his pace while keeping the swing constant and as of now, he can be seen bowling in the 130s. This importance of increasing the pace while bowling swing was stressed by Bhuvneshwar today in an interview that was posted on the official Twitter handle of SRH.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar on adding pace to his bowling

Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar spoke in the video captioned, “How did Bhuvneshwar Kumar add pace to his bowling? Hear it from the man himself?”, the bowler said, “To be honest, first couple of years I didn’t realise pace is something that needs to be added. As I kept playing, I realised with swing I need to improve my pace because bowling in late 120kph or just 130kph, batsmen were adjusting to the swing. So, I wanted to increase the pace, but I didn’t know how to do it. That was the general trend to train hard and spend time in the gym.”

“Fortunately, I was able to improve the pace and that really helped me in the later stages. So yes, when you have pace, not the express 140-plus, but bowling in the mid-130kph helps maintaining that swing and keep the batsman guessing,” he added.

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Bhuvneshwar Kumar is likely to be picked for India’s limited overs tour of Sri Lanka in July, having missed out on making it to the Test squad.

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