Asia Cup 2022: Reason why India cannot win the World T20 without Bhuvneshwar Kumar
India lost both must-win Asia Cup Super 4 fixtures, failing to defend their total. And in both the matches, the reason for loss narrowed down to an expensive 19th over bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, conceding 19 and 14 runs. Following this, young Arshdeep Singh was left with mere seven runs to defend in the final over
Bhuvneshwar KumarSeeing his poor bowling in the 19th over, a streak of speculation arose on why he is in the team if he can't give the next bowler enough runs to defend.
When Rohit Sharma was questioned on Bhuvneshwar Kumar's disappointing performances in death overs in two straight games, he said that the team was not worried about it. "Even experienced bowlers go for runs. Bhuvi has been playing for us for so many years and has won us so many matches in death overs," he said.
After heavy criticism of his death bowling, he made a terrific comeback against Afghanistan and registered his best bowling figures of 5/4. It is a performance that probably no bowler would be able to replicate, at least in such a mega-event.
After Virat Kohli's 71st international ton, Bhuvneshwar Kumar destroyed Afghanistan batting line-up conceding just 1-run per over. In his 24-ball spell, he bowled 20 dot balls.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah bowling together is considered one of the most envied new-ball opening pairs in the cricket world.
Here are a few reasons that Bhuvneshwar Kumar's presence will enlighten the team's strengths:
The 32-year-old pacer completed 31 T20I wickets in 2022 during his sensational spell in the powerplay, surpassing Jasprit Bumrah's 28 wickets in 2016.
He's the leading Indian wicket-taker in the shortest format, taking the 84th T20I wicket during Asia Cup 2022.
He's the only Indian bowler to take more than one five-wicket haul in T20Is and the one to concede the fewest runs in the full quota of overs in T20Is.
Dismissing both the opposition openers for a duck in a T20I inning, he became the first Indian bowler to do so. His ability to swing the new ball in powerplay is unmatched and is well justified by his numbers, as he has the most powerplay wickets (15*) by an Indian in a year.
His contribution and presence in powerplay are highly crucial for the team as no other bowler can match his expertise to get early breakthroughs on a platform like the T20 World Cup.