India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar revealed that while he would love to play for India once again, he stopped expecting call-backs for his Men in Blue return long ago. His last outing with the national side was in November 2022 in a T20I series played in New Zealand, after which he was out of contention.

Yet, after winning two successive Indian Premier League (IPL) titles for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), where he showed great bowling skills, the possibility of his inclusion in the Indian team has been raised again.

In IPL 2025, he took 17 wickets for RCB, made an impact with both old and new balls, and improved his game in 2026 by taking 28 wickets, just one away from getting his third Purple Cap, at an average of 17.89.

Despite the veteran pacer constantly pointing out that he no longer holds these expectations, he conceded to the fact that he deserves a place on the Indian side.

"Of course. I'm not playing to prove anything, but I'd be happy to play for India again. I have gone past that time when I used to wait for the next series,” Bhuvneshwar Kumar told Jatin Sapru on his YouTube channel.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was part of the Indian team that played in the semi-final of the 2022 T20 World Cup, and his last outing was in New Zealand after that tournament. He did expect a call-back from the selectors, but that hope met a bitter end soon after, and he eventually made peace with it.

"Till a few series. Because I had received a call. What they said, based on that, I felt maybe the next two series. But then I realized it's not what they said. It wasn't hurtful, because then I knew what was happening, and I made peace with it. It wasn't easy, but family played a big role," he added.

Bhuvneshwar further revealed that he knew that after India’s 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final loss, it would be his last World Cup for India. He recalled telling his wife Nupur, after returning to his room, that he had played his last World Cup.

"In Adelaide it happened. I came to my room and told my wife. I told this from my experience. In the dressing room, everyone was disappointed. There were a few briefs before we left. But when I came back to my room, I told Nupur this was my last World Cup. Because of what I have seen from my experience, when you lose a tournament like this, selectors want to look ahead, and that is fair," he said.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar continues to play domestic cricket for Uttar Pradesh and recently turned out in the UPT20 league.