If one thought MS Dhoni was only the ‘˜small-towner’ into this Indian cricket team; well they haven’t been following cricket.
If one thought MS Dhoni was only the ‘small-towner’ into this Indian cricket team; well they haven’t been following cricket. India is currently touring the English isles and has their notches up in the 2nd Test match at Lords. Besides the batting guile, the bowlers have come good especially the youngster Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Coming from a small town of Uttar Pradesh (Meerut), Bhuvi as he is fondly called, has grabbed the headlines with his gritty bowling and under-pressure performance with the bat.
The most remembered performance of Kumar will be the wicket of batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar when the former was just 19! Besides that, the youngster even notched up a hundred (128) in a Duleep Trophy game. After making his Test debut against Australia in 2013, Bhuvneshwar has played six Tests for India prior to arriving in England. Despite the fact that being selected for the South Africa and New Zealand tours, Bhuvi never got into the playing eleven until reaching the shores of England.
Since then, the UP bowler has not looked back and has performed with the bat and ball. What more, the 24-year old has joined the list of icons such as Sir Ian Botham and Sir Richard Hadlee of plucking more than 5 wickets and scoring half-centuries in both innings. What a magnanimous achievement for this shy guy who rather than his teammate Virat Kohli, who has been in the news for his off-field achievement rather than on it!
And if we are wondering, onto why Bhuvi is bowling so well in 2 Tests played so far? Well, here’s what he had to say. As quoted, “I have learnt a lot from Praveen Kumar. I have bowled with him earlier and I even had a chat with him before coming here. In the IPL, I learnt from Dale Steyn. Our bowling styles are quite different but he is a great bowler and you can always pick something from the way he bowls. He has given me a lot of tips during matches which I have tried in my bowling,” he said.
From the great Wasim Akram to Aussie icon, Ian Chapell; everyone has been singing the praises of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. His determined and responsible batting to go with the crafty bowling against the English batsmen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has set up new records. “I have been watching Test cricket at this ground since I was a child and this is something I have been looking forward to for a long time.” were his words in a presser and it feels the small-towner has yet more in his arsenal!
