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PlayersProud of India comeback but never chased it: Bhuvneshwar Kumar
The swing bowler has been subdued in the three T20Is against New Zealand but his skills show why he has earned a recall
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Kolkata: Bhuvneshwar Kumar didn’t spend the past four years waiting for this moment. There had been no elaborate plan to return to the India dressing room, no pursuit of a comeback, no fixation on reclaiming a place in the side. Whatever cricket came his way, he simply kept playing.
"So, I am feeling very proud that I made a comeback. But the truth is that I did not chase it,” Bhuvi said after India’s third T20I win against New Zealand in Wellington to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
“For four years, whatever was coming in front of me — tournaments, challenges, fitness, whatever else — I kept doing. I never thought that I would want to play cricket for a comeback.”
The return to international cricket, when it finally arrived, was a source of considerable pride. But the 36-year-old was equally clear about the role played by the Indian Premier League in bringing him back into contention, crediting the past two seasons — he picked 17 and 28 wickets for champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru — for creating the conditions for his return.
“Luckily, the performance happened,” he said. “I think all the credit goes to the two-year IPL. Because of that, all this is happening.”
It has not, so far, been the sort of comeback that might have been scripted for one of India's most accomplished new-ball bowlers. Bhuvi conceded 49 runs without taking a wicket in the first T20I, followed that with figures of 1/50 in the second, and finished the third on Tuesday with 0/40. The numbers, across three matches in which New Zealand's batters have largely had the better of India's bowling, offer little room for celebration.
Yet Wellington provided a more nuanced picture of a bowler trying to find his bearings playing for the country in a format that has become increasingly unforgiving. Bhuvi's opening over was a reminder of what India had missed: the scrambled seam, the movement off the pitch, the ability to make accomplished batters feel uncertain about committing to the front foot. Tim Seifert edged one just short of the wicketkeeper while Finn Allen was beaten by the away movement and nearly lost his off-stump to a ball that nipped back sharply.
Bhuvi had Allen in some discomfort, even if the New Zealand opener also found enough opportunities to punish him. Two sixes in the second over, followed by another in his next, illustrated the fine margins that now separate a promising delivery from an expensive one. A short-of-a-length ball that might once have induced a mistimed stroke could be pulled over the boundary. A hint of movement was no guarantee for a false shot.
The contrast became sharper when Bhuvi returned for his second spell. Bevon Jacobs took four successive scoring opportunities in the 13th over, including two boundaries that demonstrated his reach and willingness to attack the wide yorker. The first was struck over mid-off, the second was sliced behind square on the off side. Neither required the sort of reckless swing that bowlers might once have relied on to force a mistake.
Bhuvi's final over was more encouraging. He began with an accurate yorker that Jacobs could only dig out, then drew a wide with a full delivery outside off. Jacobs subsequently found the boundary off a low full toss, but Bhuvi finished with three singles and a dot ball. Nine runs came from the 18th over, a modest measure of control that allowed India to stage a partial but significant comeback in the slog overs.
His 0/40 were an improvement on the two previous outings, though hardly a vindication. The return remains a work in progress, and Bhuvi's own assessment of modern T20 cricket suggests he understands the challenge better than most. “When I made my debut in T20 cricket, it was like, okay, there's someone new, so let's debut him, and then slowly we'll put him in other formats,” he said. “But I think it's very difficult to give someone a direct entry in this format. You need maturity.”
Bhuvi was asked whether T20 cricket has become too favourable to batters. The question, he suggested, was debatable, even if the margin for error had narrowed considerably. “I still believe that a bowler can control the game,” he said. “The reason is that we feed the ball to the bowler. I know the margin of error is very low.”
There is a quiet acceptance in those words. Bhuvi has returned to the India fold in a format that has changed markedly since his first appearance, with batters equipped to attack almost every length and bowlers forced to make their skills work within increasingly restrictive margins.
His own comeback has yet to produce the decisive spell that would announce his return. But he is back in India colours, and that, for now, carries its own significance. “I am very happy to play for India, to represent India. It is a matter of pride,” he said.
