India vs England: Ever impeccable Bhuvneshwar Kumar swings series India’s way – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

India ended their innings at 170/8 in 20 overs. Around 20 minutes later, they came out to field and had their rituals done in the huddle. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was given the new white Kookaburra ball. He starts with the customary false run-up to the crease. Then strides to the mark to bowl the first ball. Jason Roy has taken the strike for England. Bhuvi bowls a good length delivery outside off stump. Probably in the seventh or eighth stump channel. Roy pokes hard and gets a thick edge. The ball flies to Rohit Sharma at first slip. He reverse-cups and makes it look a very easy catch. Roy makes one of his slowest walks back to the dugout.

As a fun fact, according to ESPNCricinfo stats, Bhuvi has now dismissed batters for a duck for the 13^th time in his T20I career.

An over later, he got Jos Buttler out caught behind to the wicket-keeper. But the keeper was standing up to the stumps. The reason being, batters were getting out of the crease to negate Bhuvi’s extravagant swing. Bhuvi is starting to make Buttler a sort of his bunny as he dismissed the opener for the fifth time.

Rewind the time to the fourth dismissal in the first match on Thursday. Roy had managed to negotiate four out-swinging deliveries from Bhuvi and get off the strike. The first ball to Buttler was a sharp good length in-swinger. The ball hit Buttler’s pads and went on to disturb the stumps. Buttler clearly didn’t expect the ball to curl in and he was out for a golden duck.

At a time when the red Dukes ball showed too much of tantrums to swing, Bhuvi is getting the white ball to swing amazingly, and with impeccable control. At a time when the English batters were so dominant with the Bazball mode of play in Test cricket, their batters are struggling in the T20 format.

But Bhuvi was as modest as one can be when he was asked at the post-match presentation, how is he able to do it. “Honestly I don’t know that [why the ball is swinging]… Even I was very surprised that the white ball is swinging and swinging for a long period of time, especially in the T20 format… But honestly, I don’t know if I’m swinging it, [if it is] some conditions or it’s the ball, but yes, I’m glad it’s swinging.”

Since the start of the year, Bhuvi has bagged 17 wickets at an average of 16.29 in T20Is. No other bowler from the World Test Championship playing nations has more wickets. Albeit, Bhuvi was written off after the 2021 T20 World Cup. A comeback so good was never thought of. But he has come back quite strongly.

Bhuvi, however, is not a revelation of 2022. He has just found back his rhythm and impeccable control that had been disrupted by multiple injuries. He has bagged 37 wickets in the powerplay which is the most in T20Is. He also has 14 wickets in the first over of an innings, which is the highest amongst players from ICC full member nations and next only to Oman’s Bilal Khan’s tally of 16 wickets. He also has the best economy in powerplay at 5.61. And in his 65^th T20I on Saturday, he became the first bowler to bowl 500 dot balls in T20Is. These are career stats spanning over 10 years and not just 10 months.

But Bhuvi does not have a breathtaking runup with hair flying and hands swaying wildly. He is determined but does not have fiery eye stares. He celebrates his wickets but not with a chainsaw or flying hands gesture. Probably why his commitment is questioned every time. But his tactics are always up to the mark. Jos Buttler’s dismissal in the first match was a testament to it.

It’s good to see India trusting the veteran and not hesitating to go back to him once he was fully fit. More so in a world where replacements are easily available. Bhuvi also confirmed after the match that coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma have backed him quite well.

But with Bhuvi swinging the ball so well, it is interesting that he has bowled only three overs in both the matches so far against England. Probably, it is a testament to India’s strength or Rohit’s smartly knit tactic.

For now, we shall wait for the day Bhuvi finds his way back into the Test squad. The way India have allowed opponents to complete tough run chases away from home, probably India need him now more than ever.

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