Bhuvneshwar Kumar talks about difference in preparation for Tests, ODIs and T20s

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is missing the first three Tests of the England series due to a back problem.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar | GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty ImagesAfter seeing James Anderson and co swinging the ball left, right and center at Lord’s in the ongoing second Test at the Lord’s ground; Team India must be missing a very vital weapon in their armory and that is Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

28-year-old Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been ruled out partly from the England tour thanks to aggravating his back problem by playing in the 3rd ODI against England.

Bhuvneshwar had made a debut with a bang in ODIs against Pakistan in 2013, by clean bowling Mohd Hafeez with a beauty with his first ball in ODIs and international cricket. Since then he has honed his skills to such a level, that he is considered to be one of the premier bowlers for India in all the three formats.

Sportskeeda.com had an exclusive chat with Bhuvneshwar and here are some of the excerpts from the interview.

Asked about preparations for different formats, Bhuvneshwar explained, “It depends. If we have a One Day series, so the preparation is according to the shorter format but if you have to switch formats then practice comes to the fore. You play three-four day match as it's very important to get acclimatized to the place for longer format because Test format is the toughest thing, you have to be there 5 days on the field. The only change in bowling is the line and length and variation. If you play T20s, it's more about variations and in Test matches, it's more about the classical requirements of line and length.

Bhuvneshwar also spoke about the increase in his speed and changes he has made to achieve that. Bhuvneshwar said, “It's more about fitness. There is a big difference in the training schedule I had two to three years ago and the one that I have now. Some particular exercises have helped as well. Maybe, in the last three years, my body has matured a lot with age which has helped me in increasing my pace. So the main thing has been the change in my fitness regimes, our Indian team trainer has introduced a few things as well and all that collectively has helped me to increase my speed.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the first and only Indian bowler to date to pick up five-wicket hauls in all the three international formats. A skillful exponent of the knuckleball, Bhuvneshwar answered a question about its longevity in the T20 format.

He said, “T20 is a format where variations are very important. If the batsmen try and play different shots, the bowlers try and pick them up and maneuver the delivery accordingly, so now that the knuckleball is being widely used, the batsmen will try to read and negate it. So, naturally, if something is being used as widely, the batsmen will read it. However, the knuckleball is something which is very difficult to bowl and is more effective than other slower balls such as leg cutter or off cutter because there is no change in wrist position. But yes, batsmen are very clever today and they find a way to tackle that thing.

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 11 Aug, 2018

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