One of the premier fast-bowlers of Team India, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has served the national side in a splendid manner over the years. His ability to swing the ball both ways while keeping an accurate line and length always makes him a dangerous asset against batsmen. Despite being a Team India regular for a large part of his career, the last few years have seen plenty of ups and downs for Bhuvi because of recurring injury issues.
A consistent back problem that has reappeared time and time again has kept him out of the fray for a long while and Bhuvneshwar Kumar hasn’t played regular international cricket since the 2019 World Cup in England.
The veteran also suffered a thigh muscle injury in the IPL last year which not only ruled him out of the tournament for Sunrisers Hyderabad but also made it impossible for him to participate during the tour of Australia.
Despite that, Bhuvi continued to make strides to get back to the national setup and following a long injury layoff, he made his return during the limited overs series against England at home earlier this year.
When asked about what kept him motivated to make a comeback in the national side despite the injuries, Bhuvneshwar Kumar attributed it to playing domestic cricket.
“When I was almost recovered, domestic cricket was going on as well. So my focus was to get fit and make a comeback and then I started the preparation for the match,” he said.
“Before the England series, I played domestic cricket, so that it helps me get the required match practice. One shouldn’t take things lightly while playing domestic cricket and that kept me motivated to play for India and to stay fit,” he added.
India’s squad that will face Sri Lanka in a limited overs series consists of six uncapped players. While that might seem too inexperienced given the fact that the senior side is in England, Bhuvi says that playing in the IPL has helped many of these uncapped players build confidence.
“We have good players and they have experience of IPL, they are young but they have experience of IPL, playing T20 for so many years and they have done well for their teams,” Bhuvneshwar said on the Star Sports show ‘Follow the Blues.’
“So, it will be beneficial for the team that they will carry the confidence of IPL and they are young and talented, there is a good mix with the experienced players and this will be a good tour.
“Young players who have come for their first tour and came after doing well in IPL so if they do well here then it will be great for their confidence,” he concluded.
