Former Indian fast bowler Ashish Nehra reckons the selectors should have considered Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the limited-overs leg for the upcoming tour of South Africa. Kumar played his last International match for India in 2022, which was a T20I fixture against New Zealand. Kumar has been troubled with injury woes in the recent past and thus hasn’t been in the reckoning for national selection.
The swing bowler was also not included in the World Cup squad and has not been picked in any of the three squads for the upcoming tour of South Africa.
Kumar scalped 16 wickets in seven matches of the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy 2023 while playing for Uttar Pradesh but he still didn’t make the cut for South Africa T20Is.
Ashish Nehra said on JioCinema, “I am not at all surprised that the selectors have picked three different teams. Pretty much everyone’s name has come. There might be hardly any player who is there or thereabouts whose name is not there. Only one name comes to my mind, because you are going to South Africa, and you have picked a lot of fast bowlers, and that name is Bhuvneshwar Kumar.”
The selectors have backed bowlers like Deepak Chahar, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, and Mukesh Kumar but Nehra feels Bhuvneshwar Kumar should have been picked because of his experience.
“I understand that you have other new-ball options, you have Arshdeep Singh, and Mukesh Kumar is playing. However, if you see all the options, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is an experienced bowler who I will say is still doing well. The selectors should keep an eye on him. They shouldn’t forget him totally, especially when you talk about T20 and 50-over formats.”
Nehra said Kumar can fit in any white-ball team but he was unfortunate to miss out on the South African tour.
“When you talk about white-ball, Bhuvi can fit in any team, especially when he is bowling well, because he does not lack at all in terms of skill and experience,” Nehra said.
“It’s a different thing that he didn’t play against Australia here, but he should be kept in the scheme of things.”
India will now tour South Africa for three T20Is, as many ODIs, and two Test matches.
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