‘Always prepared myself for all three formats irrespective of the team selection’ – Bhuvneshwar Kumar clarifies following reports of him losing ‘drive to play Tests anymore’
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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. As the fans and experts scratched their heads to crack the mystery of his snub, reports started surfacing claiming that Bhuvneshwar has set his mind on T20s and doesn’t want to play in the purest format any more.
The veteran quick was quick to respond as he slammed the reports. Bhuvneshwar clarified that he is always prepared to don the national jersey no matter the format. He went on to urge the media from such wild speculations based on information from “sources”.
“There have been articles about me not wanting to play Test cricket. Just to clarify, I have always prepared myself for all three formats irrespective of the team selection and will continue to do the same. Suggestion – please don’t write your assumptions based on “sources”!” he tweeted.
Reports claim Bhuvneshwar Kumar “doesn’t want to play Tests anymore”
A The Times of India report quoted a person in the know of things about why Bhuvneshwar Kumar was not picked for the England tour. The report claimed that Kumar’s drive to play the purest format has gone missing and he will be focusing on T20 format now.
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“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 has 63 wickets at an average of 26.1 in 21 Tests. Bhuvneshwar has been in superb form lately. He was impressive during the home white-ball series against England after getting fit and was even named the ICC Player of the Month for the month of February. 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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Anshuman Mahapatra
(1496 Articles Published)