Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Indian spearhead in limited-over cricket, feels India is not short of a fifth bowler despite Rajkot defeat. He has been India’s most prolific performer in the limited-over cricket along with Jasprit Bumrah and bowled a superb spell in the second T20I as well.
“You cannot blame the bowler for the loss. Other teams are there to play as well. We have played good cricket against Australia and even when we toured West Indies. The three-match series are very small and if you lose the first game and then tie it 1-1, you have to play a decider,” he said.
“As far as a fifth bowler is a concern, we have Hardik Pandya and others bowl part-time. We haven’t missed a bowler so far. If your main bowlers do not take a wicket or go for runs, then you miss a bowler. But we think a lot about team combination.”
Bhuvi gave only 24 runs in his allotted overs while Bumrah cost 27 runs in his four overs. On the other hand, most of the other bowlers went for the cleaners by Colin Munro, who scored a brilliant ton the other day.
“Bumrah has a different action which creates problems for the batsmen but he has improved a lot of things with his action. He had these yorkers and slower ones earlier as well,” he added. “So when you bowl with Bumrah you have confidence that if you need to save runs later, if you bowl well, he will also do it with me. Another good thing is that when the match begins, we talk to each other about the wicket, what strategy we can make. It’s of great help for both the bowlers.”
Meanwhile, he also shut the mouths, who were criticizing former skipper MS Dhoni after Rajkot T20I. Dhoni failed to explode during a crunch moment in that match and the asking rate touched the sky. With his too many dot balls, Kohli perished under pressure of high required run rate.
“If you look at his record, nobody (team management) is really bothered. Whatever he has done, he has been doing well, he knows he is a legend. Whatever he is doing, it is benefitting the Indian team. No one has any doubts about him,” Bhuvi concluded during the pre-match press conference.
The T20I series decider will be played tomorrow in Thiruvananthapuram’s Green Field International Stadium, which will become India’s 50th International stadium.
