Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar opined that he would have included Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the playing eleven had he landed in England with the Indian team. Gavaskar’s comments came on the back of some ineffective bowling by the Indian trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma.
“He (Bhuvneshwar) did play the IPL this time around and there wasn’t any injury concern. He did pull out of the September-October IPL but not this time. I would have included him just for this Test match because it is being played in June," Gavaskar said while replying to a question on whether Bhuvneshwar was not included in the squad for the WTC Final and England series due to his frequent injury concerns.
Bhuvneshwar even trended on social media on Day 3 of the World Test Championship final as NZ batted brilliantly at Southampton. After bundling out India for just 217, NZ batters made a solid start. In the 34th over of the first innings, it was offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin who got India their first wicket in the form of Latham. India captain Virat Kohli, who was at the extra cover, timed his perfect jump and caught hold of the ball to send bacl Latham.
However, the Kiwi openers kept the pacers at bay for a quiet a long period of time. With India struggling to get early wickets, Indian cricket fans began posting about how they are missing Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Mohammed Siraj who are famous for their ability to swing the ball.
While Bhuvneshwar wasn’t picked for the England tour, Siraj is part of the squad but not picked in the playing XI.Several fans suggested that in the present conditions, India needed someone like Bhuvi who is known for swing.They highlighted that Bhuvi would have been lethal in these conditions and called him the first choice bowler of India in England.
Some fans also rued Siraj failing to make the cut as the conditions in Southampton would also have been favourable to his style of bowling.
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