WTC Final: India is definitely missing Bhuvneshwar Kumar, says Aakash Chopra

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra feels India is definitely missing the services of experience Bhuvneshwar Kumar in English conditions in the ongoing World Test Championship final against New Zealand. Kumar was not picked for the England tour by the All India Selection Panel committee.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is known for moving the ball both ways and he would have been lethal with the Duke ball in England. Furthermore, Kumar would have also added the batting depth as well, as he can contribute with the bat.

However, Bhunveshwar hasn’t been at his best in the recent past and his career has been hampered by injuries. The right-arm fast bowler was named as the vice-captain for the limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a genuine swing fast bowler and he would have been useful in the English conditions. On the other hand, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami are not known to swing the ball a great deal.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar said while talking to YouTube, “India is definitely missing Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He has three special aspects as well. Firstly, he does magic with the new ball. Secondly, he bowls the long spells. And the third thing is that he can bat as well. He could have done everything for Team India.”

Chopra added that Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami are not swing bowlers but they seam the ball.

“Swinging conditions can only be utilized if the ball leaves your hand accordingly. We saw Colin de Grandhomme getting a lot of swing, then Southee, Jamieson and Trent Boult, Ishant Sharma is still somewhere close but the other two are far behind. They don’t swing the ball, they are seam bowlers.”

In fact, Chopra added that the Indian selection panel could have considered Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar, who both are known to swing the ball.

“Whoever is quicker in the air, he gets a slightly lesser swing. A seam bowler is not a swing bowler. To get the swing, you need to tilt the seam slightly and Bhuvneshwar Kumar does that thing very nicely. I would say you could have considered both Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar for this tour of England.”