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Bhuvneshwar-Kumar
The non-selection of Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the India Team going to tour England has been a surprise to many. However, it has been reported that the selectors ignored him because of the uncertainty over his fitness. His lack of matches playing in the Test cricket also factored in on his omission.
The Test squad of India for England is made up of six fast bowlers. In addition to that, there are three pacers on standby.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has not played a first-class match since the January of 2018. The one he played was the Johannesburg Test back in January 2018. The selectors think he is unfit to play long format, especially on such a long tour, as of now. There are numerous pace bowling options for team India in recent times. Players like Siraj and Thakur had played impressively in Australia. Thereby, the Indian Team is not likely to miss the services of Kumar during the England Tour.
In the white-ball series against England, Bhuvneshwar Kumar made an impressive comeback.
The 31- year old medium pacer suffered a thigh muscle injury during the last IPL season of 2020. He was later on ruled out of the Australia Tour. He recovered sooner than expected and played in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy. It satisfied the selectors of his fitness and performance. He was recalled for the white-ball series against England.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar performed magnificently on his India come back. In three ODIs he claimed 6 wickets. His average was 22.5 and the economy rate was an impressive 4.65. In the T20I series, at an average of 28.75 and an economy rate of 8.06, he picked up four wickets. He was even declared the Man of the Match. He had finished 2-15 off his 4 overs in the match.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar struggled in IPL 2021. He picked up 3 wickets in five matches for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. He had an average of 57.66 and an economy rate of 9.1. The performance factored in to make the selectors doubt his abilities and fitness as of now. It led to his omission from the India squad for the England Tour.