Former India pacer Ashish Nehra felt that the BCCI selection committee missed a trick by not picking veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar on the important upcoming tour of South Africa, especially for the white-ball matches.
BCCI on Thursday announced Team India's squads for the upcoming tour of South Africa, which consists of three ODIs, as many T20Is, and two Tests. While Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will skip the white-ball leg, Suryakumar Yadav retains captaincy in T20Is while KL Rahul will lead the side in the fifty-over format.
Former India pacer Ashish Nehra believes that one player who should have been considered for the tour is Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Kumar was a consistent presence in India's white-ball squads until last year.
But due to inconsistent performance, drop in pace, and emergence of options like Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, and Mukesh Kumar, Bhuvneshwar found himself out of contention.
"Only one name comes to my mind, because you are going to South Africa, and you have picked a lot of fast bowlers, and that name is Bhuvneshwar Kumar. I understand that you have other new-ball options, you have Arshdeep Singh, and Mukesh Kumar is playing," Ashish Nehra said on JioCinema.
“When you talk about the white-ball, Bhuvi can fit in any team, especially when he is bowling well because he does not lack at all in terms of skill and experience. It's a different thing that he didn't play against Australia here, but he should be kept in the scheme of things,” he added.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar played in the T20 World Cup 2022 for India in Australia and his last outing for Men in Blue was in November 2022 during a T20I series against New Zealand.
