Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin reckons Bhuvneshwar Kumar looked a bit off in the third T20I against New Zealand at the Hnry Stadium, Wellington on Tuesday. Ashwin highlighted that Kumar’s performance has been a miss so far in the series.
Kumar returned with figures of 0-40 in his quota of four overs against the Kiwis in the third T20I. Ashwin noted that the veteran seamer’s pace was down and he also failed to swing the ball. In the first two games of the series, Kumar had taken a soltiary wicket and also proved expensive.
“Bhuvneshwar Kumar in his third match is a miss for me. Look, anybody can go for runs. I would actually take the previous two games of Bhuvi. I thought he bowled really well upfront. He swung the ball and bowled the third over inside the Powerplay in the previous game,” Ashwin said on SonyLiv.
“So, it’s very understandable to have one bad over in the back half, but in this game, I thought his pace was down. The swing was missing. Just didn’t look like he was running up to the crease as well as he could. Looked a bit off, and I think it’s been a very big miss,” he added.
On the other hand, Ashwin was also asked about Shreyas Iyer’s performance in the series. Iyer scored a crucial knock of 42 runs off 28 balls in the series opener whereas he was dismissed after scoring five runs on Tuesday.
“It was actually a good knock in the first one. He missed out on the second. He got out to a full toss today (Tuesday). I wouldn’t really put it as a miss or a hit. It’s been a mishit for me. He really aced the chase in the first innings and got out playing a big shot in the previous one,” he replied.
The fourth T20I between India and New Zealand will be played at Eden Park, Auckland, on Friday.
Image credits: Joe Allison/ Getty Images Sport via Getty Images
