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India vs England: Bhuvneshwar Kumar says he honed death bowling skills in IPL
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who gave away just six runs in the last over of India vs England second ODI in Cuttack, said bowling in death overs in Indian Premier League (IPL) helped him on international stage
The Indian Premier League (IPL) has over the years made and revived careers. On Saturday morning, while not adding himself to that list, Bhuvneshwar Kumar said he owed a lot to the competition, especially in the area of bowling at the death. The pressure of international cricket is a lot more but playing in the IPL helps, he said.
“At Sunrisers (Hyderabad), I had to bowl a lot at the death and I was bringing that mindset into international cricket. I tried to do the same things here,” said Kumar, who bowled some nine yorkers to negate England’s counter-attack that made 381 look achievable in the second ODI.
“That (bowling yorkers) was one of the plans we had during pressure situations,” added Kumar, who took 23 wickets in 17 IPL games last year to end as the edition’s top wicket-taker.
And when the conversation moved to Kumar bowling the last over where England needed a gettable 22 but managed only six, he again mentioned the IPL, saying playing in the league helped him deal with the situation.
Jason Roy was also asked about the IPL when he took the dais. Asked how he would look at the opportunity of getting used to conditions in the sub-continent by playing in the league, the England opener said he would have to be chosen first by a franchise-owner. That said, Roy added that England teams do spend a fair amount of time in England and Sri Lanka be it with the Elite Performance or the Young Lions programmes. “It has helped improve our performance in the sub-continent, I think,” said Roy.
