WTC Final: Aakash Chopra feels India are missing Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the English conditions

WTC Final: Aakash Chopra feels India are missing Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the English conditions

Aakash Chopra and Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra believes that Bhuvneshwar Kumar could have been a crucial member of the Virat Kohli-led side in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final. He mentioned that the 31-year-old contributes with both bat and ball and comes with a great experience.

The WTC Final is currently well-placed with a slight advantage in favour of the Kiwis. After bundling out for 217, India could claim just two wickets of the opposition on Day 3, followed by a complete washout on the following day of the Test match.

The cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted that the Indian players aren’t getting the swing movement on this track, unlike the NZ bowlers. However, he pointed out that Kumar has got the ability to swing the new ball, especially in English conditions.

“India is definitely missing Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He has three special aspects as well. Firstly, he does magic with the new ball. Secondly, he bowls the long spells. And the third thing is that he can bat as well. He could have done everything for Team India,” Aakash Chopra said in his recent Youtube video.

‘India could have considered both Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU4eL2T3ukg

Aakash Chopra further said that only Ishant Sharma got a slight swing movement as Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami were relying more on the seam movement. Moreover, the 43-year-old opined that India could have considered both Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar for this tour of England. 

Kumar and Chahar are currently serving the mandatory quarantine period in Mumbai. They are set to play in the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka, scheduled from next month.

“Swinging conditions can only be utilized if the ball leaves your hand accordingly. We saw Colin de Grandhomme getting a lot of swing, then Southee, Jamieson and Trent Boult, Ishant Sharma is still somewhere close but the other two are far behind. They don’t swing the ball, they are seam bowlers.

“Whoever is quicker in the air, he gets a slightly lesser swing. A seam bowler is not a swing bowler. To get the swing, you need to tilt the seam slightly and Bhuvneshwar Kumar does that thing very nicely. I would say you could have considered both Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar for this tour of England,” he concluded.

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