Indian pace bowler stated that he continues to prepare for all three formats irrespective of team selections and questioned the sources, which suggested he is focusing on T20s.
A report in TOI on Saturday quoted sources claiming that Kumar has not been selected in the Indian team for the tour of England because he does not want to play Tests.
“Bhuvneshwar just doesn’t want to play Test cricket anymore. That drive has gone missing. 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 heavy weight 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 report stared.
“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,” the source further added.
Following this, Bhuvneshwar took to Twitter on Saturday and quashed the rumours, asking not to write assumptions based on sources.
India had named a 20-member Test squad last week for the tour of England, where the team will play the World Test Championship final against New Zealand in June as well as five Test matches against England in August-September. Eyebrows were raised when Bhuvneshwar was not included in the squad. Bhuvneshwar being a swing bowler, who has had a good record in England, was expected to be a part of the squad.
Kumar was India’s standout bowler in the 2014 tour of England, where he picked 19 wickets in 7 innings at an average of 26.6. In his Test career, Bhuvneshwar has picked up 63 wickets in just 37 innings at an impressive average of 26.90. He has also taken four five-wicket hauls in the longer format.
Bhuvneshwar, who has played 21 Tests for India, last appeared in the Tests three years ago, against South Africa in January 2018. Once India’s premier pacer, his career has been marred by multiple injuries in the last couple of years. As a result, he has missed out on some important Test series both at home and away.
After a long injury layoff, the pacer made a strong comeback to international cricket against England in the limited overs leg in March. Bhuvneshwar produced a ‘Player of the series’ performance in the ODI series and was exceptional in the T20I series too. He picked 10 wickets in 8 matches across two formats against England.
When it looked like he’s getting back to his best, Bhuvneshwar suffered another injury during the Indian Premier League 2021. But after missing two matches, he made a comeback, picking 3 wickets in five matches for the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH).
The seamer is expected to be included in India’s limited-over squad, which is scheduled to fly to Sri Lanka for the white-ball series in the month of July.
