“Proud that I made comeback, did not chase it”, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar comments after much awaited India return

Kolkata : Since 2022 T20 World Cup loss against England in semi final by 10 wickets, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar was left out of the Indian set up and never seen after that. He sat for 4 years, played domestic Cricket, came back strong with remarkable figures in IPL, made Royal Challengers Bengaluru win 2 consecutive IPL titles and here is he after all those years – back in Blue jersey.

Bhuvaneshwar stated that he never chased comeback. Whatever came in front of him, he played and never thought of playing Cricket for an international comeback.

“So, I am feeling very proud that I made a comeback. But the truth is that I did not chase it,” Bhuvi said after India’s third T20I win against New Zealand in Wellington to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.

“For four years, whatever was coming in front of me — tournaments, challenges, fitness, whatever else — I kept doing. I never thought that I would want to play cricket for a comeback”.

The comeback was on back of strong performance for RCB in IPL where he picked 45 wickets across 2 seasons in the Rajat Patidar and Virat Kohli’s team title runs.

“Luckily, the performance happened,” he said. “I think all the credit goes to the two-year IPL. Because of that, all this is happening”, said Bhuvi.

However, the paced didn’t have best of comeback as he had returns of 0-49, 1-50, 0-40 in 3 T20Is. The return remains a work in progress, and Bhuvi’s own assessment of modern T20 cricket suggests he understands the challenge better than most. “When I made my debut in T20 cricket, it was like, okay, there’s someone new, so let’s debut him, and then slowly we’ll put him in other formats,” he said. “But I think it’s very difficult to give someone a direct entry in this format. You need maturity.”

Bhuvi was asked whether T20 cricket has become too favourable to batters. The question, he suggested, was debatable, even if the margin for error had narrowed considerably. “I still believe that a bowler can control the game,” he said. “The reason is that we feed the ball to the bowler. I know the margin of error is very low.”

Despite not a joyful comeback, Bhuvi takes pride in donning the Indian jersey yet again.

“I am very happy to play for India, to represent India. It is a matter of pride,” he said.

For India, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar made debut in T20I in 2012 against Pakistan. In 91 games, he has taken 91 wickets.