India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar was on Friday (January 1) named in the Uttar Pradesh squad for the first two games of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as he made recovery from the thigh injury which he sustained during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.
When Uttar Pradesh had released the list of 26 probables for the domestic T20 tournament, Bhuvneshwar’s name didn’t feature in it while Suresh Raina was picked.
According to a report published in IANS, Bhuvneshwar will fly to Alur (Bengaluru) from Delhi on Saturday (January 2) along with Suresh Raina while the other members of the team will leave separately.
While the National Cricket Academy (NCA) has given clearance to Bhuvneshwar to appear in the tournament, Uttar Pradesh have named as many as seven fast bowlers in a squad of 22.
Earlier, it was reported that Bhuvneshwar Kumar will continue to remain out of action till the 2021 IPL edition, likely to be held in early April.
"But Bhuvneshwar has made strides over the past few days and has also been training at a ground in Greater Noida West (Noida Extension) for the past couple of days, bowling as well as batting," IANS quoted a source as saying.
The source also added that the T20 games would be a good trial for the 30-year-old pacer as he will be bowling just four overs in the first two games.
It takes anything between six weeks to six months to regain fitness after suffering the thigh injury. It was initially believed that Bhuvneshwar will not play any competitive cricket prior to IPL as he was not part of the Uttar Pradesh camp for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
But with India scheduled to host England in five T20Is, three ODIs and the mini IPL auction set to take place around mid-February, it has become important for Bhuvneshwar to prove match-fitness.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s body has become injury-prone in recent times. In 2018, he suffered back injury, which saw him missing matches on the tour of England. During the 50-over World Cup last year, he picked up a hamstring injury in the match against Pakistan and again missed a few games.
Bhuvneshwar returned to competitive cricket after nine months during the IPL 2020, the lengthy hiatus also caused by COVID-19, but could play just four matches in the tournament before breaking down.
(With IANS inputs)
