Veteran Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has clarified that he wasn’t thinking too far ahead when he was asked about his return to ODI cricket. Notably, the seamer returned to international cricket after four years.
Speaking in the post-match press conference after India’s six-wicket win in the third T20I in Wellington, Bhuvneshwar made it clear that he didn’t chase playing for India again, crediting his IPL performances in the last two years for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
“It is great to be playing for India again, but I am not thinking too much about the future. I will continue to play domestic cricket, whether it is Mushtaq Ali or Vijay Hazare. I did not chase this (playing for India again), though it was always the dream. Credit goes to my performances in the IPL over the past two years,” Bhuvi said.
The seamer has featured in all three matches of the ongoing five-match series but has managed just one wicket at an average of 139 and an economy rate of 11.58. Despite the batter-dominated nature of modern T20 cricket, he remains confident in bowlers’ ability to make an impact and control games in the shortest format.
“This is a debatable question. We say that the conditions favour the batters nowadays and all that, but I still believe that a bowler can control the game. The reason is that we feed the ball to the batter,” he noted.
“I know that the margin of error is very low, which we generally talk about. But still, a bowler can land the ball wherever he wants to. I strongly believe that a bowler can control the game,” he asserted.
“There are small boundaries. Everything is given to the batters. But still, a bowler is the one who feeds the ball to the batter. Then it’s up to the batter what he wants to play, whether he wants to play according to the ball or not. But still, if you look at the good bowlers, they are still doing well. They are consistent. Even if the game is not equal, the bowler adapts quickly. We’ve seen it in IPL; we’ve seen it here as well,” he concluded.
