India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar spoke on his poor form in the Asia Cup 2022 and said that media and commentators said a lot about his bowling in the tournament, but now things are done and dusted.
His words came after India’s T20 World Cup 2022 match against the Netherlands in Sydney. India has won both of its first two matches, defeating Pakistan in MCG by 4 wickets and getting better of the Netherlands by 56 runs on Thursday.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was excellent against the Netherlands, bowling two maiden overs and picking one wicket, halting Netherlands’ charge in the powerplay in their chase of a 180-run target.
Meanwhile, when asked about the criticism he faced for his poor death overs bowling in Asia Cup, Bhuvneshwar Kumar told reporters that it was in the past and the thing was done and dusted.
"Itni saalon mein ek baar ho gayi cheezein kharab. So ho gayi. Baat khatm. (In all these years, I have had this one off tournament. It's happened. It's done and dusted). Media and commentators can say a lot of things (about death bowling), but as a team we knew that we will have our share of ups and downs.
T20 is a format where it could be tough for bowlers and even for batters if the track is difficult one. But since Asia Cup is a big event people do tend to assess you that much more. During World Cup, I keep myself completely off from social media and have no idea what all is written about. Because it's the social media from which you come to know all these things," Bhuvneshwar told reporters after the Netherlands clash.
Then talking about the first match against Pakistan in T20 World Cup, Bhuvneshwar said that he didn’t expect the ball to swing that much in Melbourne. He had also tormented Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam in the first match, which helped Arshdeep Singh dismiss both batters.
"I never expected that my deliveries would swing so much. Whether me or Arshdeep who got two wickets, me and Arshdeep complimented each other. So you can say I was happy," the senior bowler said.
The senior pacer was also all praises for the young left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh.
He said: "He has been amazing since his debut. He was always asking about what kind of track will there be on offer and what kind of shots the batters will play on this track. He asks me and also Rohit and Virat. Considering his first T20 WC, he is doing really well.
There are no assigned death bowler as such. You can't plan like that in cricket, where even before a tourney starts, you know who your death bowlers are. A lot of things are instinctive and captain takes a call on how he assesses the situation at that very moment."
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was also asked about the impact of the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who was ruled out due to a stress reaction to his back just before the T20 World Cup started.
"The kind of bowler Bumrah is, certainly it's a big loss for the team. It's not as if we would have to do something extra that Bumrah isn't around. Even if Bumrah would have been around, we couldn't have done those extra things. We are doing exactly what our strengths are,” Bhuvneshwar said.
India will now face South Africa in Perth on Sunday and a win in this match will mostly seal their place in the semi-finals.
(PTI inputs)
