By: BCCI
In his three-year old international career, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has seen both the sides of its spectrum. He started off brilliantly in limited overs cricket and reached a peak in England last year, picking two five-fors and scoring three half-centuries in the first two Tests. Then came injuries and loss of form in Australia and he had to sit out the last four Tests India played – one in Bangladesh and three in Sri Lanka.
Now, with the South Africa series within sight, Bhuvi is focusing all his energy on going into the T20I and ODI series in top form. In Team India’s ongoing camp in Bengaluru, Bhuvi is busy getting into the “game mode” and honing his T20 skills.
“We are staring with the T20Is, so being a bowler, I am working a lot on my variations,” Bhuvi told BCCI.TV. “It was a long break for the team. The preparations are different when you are coming after a layoff because it takes time to get back into the game mode. Everyone here is working on the specifics of their game and it is helping us a lot.”
As his team scripted a 2-1 win in the Test series in Sri Lanka, Bhuvi sat on the sidelines, mentally preparing himself for when his next opportunity comes along.
“It is up to the team management to decide who plays and who doesn’t. During the Sri Lanka series while I sat out, I was planning ahead for the home season, asking myself in what way I can improve to help the team in the coming matches,” Bhuvi said.
One aspect that the pacer has improved in the last few months is the death bowling. His yorkers in the slog overs in the 2015 IPL impressed one and all. Bhuvi took his newly acquired skill to international level, bowling some miserly spells in the death to help India win the ODI series in Zimbabwe earlier this year.
“Death bowling was an aspect I wasn’t very good at when I started playing international cricket,” Bhuvi said. And I was very keen on getting better at succeeding with the old ball in limited overs cricket,” he said. “I always worked hard at it but as you play, you grow and learn about your own game. That’s when you figure out how you can develop certain aspects of your game in lesser time.
“In this regards, IPL helped me a lot. In IPL as a specialist bowler, you have to bowl in the death overs; there is no way out. That experience helped me gradually improve as a death bowler. My confidence really god boosted when I bowled well in the death during the Zimbabwe series. I got that belief that I can do it at the international level as well. That will bode well for me and the team in the South Africa series.”
Besides his bowling, Bhuvi adds value to the team with the bat too. Possessed of good temperament and decent technique, he knows he can contribute with crucial runs down the order.
“Batting is an aspect I always work on,” he said. “The team management also backs me in that regards and encourages me to bat more in the nets. If we want to play with five bowlers (in Test matches), it is very important for the lower order to score some runs. Every time our lower order has contributed with the bat, we have done well.”
