Sunil Gavaskar hails Bhuvneshwar Kumar for overcoming rough patch

It has been a tough few months for India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar as he worked hard to rediscover his rhythm with the ball in hand. He was one of the best pacers in the Indian side not too long ago but injuries have hampered his career in the last couple of years. While Kumar could only manage a couple of scalps in the recent T20I series against West Indies, he bowled a match-winning penultimate over in the second game conceding just four runs and accounting for the dangerous Nicholas Pooran to win India the match.

Meanwhile, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has come forward and said that Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a strong contender to be in the Indian squad for this year’s ICC T20 World Cup in Australia. Giving further clarification on the same, the he said that the 32-year-old has toiled hard to overcome his bad patch.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is again making a point: Sunil Gavaskar

“He is again making a point. Yes, he had a pretty ordinary series in South Africa. But he has come back well. Again, look at the competition, nobody can take his place for granted. He has been a senior bowler for such a long time, the moment he slipped a little bit and questions were asked about him, he has picked himself up,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.

“He hasn’t gone into a shell, thinking ‘oh what is going to happen?’. He has worked harder, he has looked at his bowling and he is trying to get better with every passing day. And that’s what is important. He is not resting on his laurels. He is saying with the extra pace and the bounce that I will get in Australia, he will in the frame,” he added.

Bhuvneshwar has managed to impress with his impactful bowling performances in the recent past but, he would need to fight hard for his place in the Indian squad for this year’s showpiece event down under. While Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami are expected to be the first-choice pace bowlers, bowling all-rounders Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur are also in the scheme of things with the competition getting more intense with the inclusion of new white-ball sensation Mohammed Siraj.