Two weeks out from the Test series against England at home, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has made a stunning return to red-ball cricket by taking five wickets for only 25 runs in Uttar Pradesh’s Ranji Trophy 2024 match against Bengal.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar had last played a red-ball game in 2018, on the tour of South Africa. Because of his injury issues, Bhuvneshwar hadn’t played a first-class game, not even in domestic cricket for six years. Until, he turned up for Uttar Pradesh’s second match of the ongoing Ranji season, against Bengal, on what seems a spicy pitch at Green Park, Kanpur.
While UP was bowled out for only 60 runs, a sensational bowling performance from their senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar kept UP in the game as Bengal went to stumps at the score of 95/5, all five wickets belonging to Bhuvneshwar, who ended the day with figures of 13-3-25-5.
With Mohammed Shami currently injured and unlikely to feature in the first couple of Tests in the upcoming series against England, starting January 25, this performance from the swing-sensation Bhuvneshwar Kumar must give selectors nudge about his fitness and his skillset with the red ball which has remained intact.
Fans were elated to see Bhuvneshwar put up such a strong bowling show in the Ranji Trophy return after six years.
https://x.com/CricCrazyJohns/status/1745766914432114982?s=20
Twitterati react to Bhuvneshwar Kumar taking five-for against Bengal:
Bhuvneshwar Kumar last featured in a first-class game before this one in the Johannesburg Test in 2018. Despite his prolific swing movement abilities, his Test career has been hindered due to injuries. He has played only in 21 Test matches, picking up 63 wickets at an average of 26 with four five-wicket hauls to his name.
Also Read: IND vs AFG: Rohit Sharma’s Fans Hail Shivam Dube As The Replacement Of Injured Hardik Pandya
