Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been in fine nick for the most part this year and his purple patch continued on Sunday with a four-wicket haul against Pakistan.
The seamer produced a stellar show with the ball in Team India’s opening game of the Asia Cup in Dubai, registering figures of 4/25 as India bowled Pakistan out for 147 after opting to field. Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja then led the way in the chase, both scoring 35, before Hardik Pandya nailed the finishing act with an unbeaten 33 off 17 balls as the Men in Blue won with two balls to spare.
Read: I will take this win over one-sided victories, says Rohit Sharma
Speaking to reporters after the game, Bhuvneshwar emphasised on the ability to adapt to circumstances and conditions as a factor as crucial to a cricketer’s success as skill. This was after Bhuvneshwar and the rest of the seam attack realised there wasn’t much swing on offer at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, following which the Indians resorted to the short-ball strategy against the Pakistanis that ultimately paid dividends.
“It is important for a player to be proactive be it while batting or bowling because T20 is such a fast format, to assume things. Wicket didn’t support swing and bounce was more so we plan and we know what the batter’s strength and when we bowl a couple of balls more we get a better idea.
“I believe, thinking about the game is as important a factor as skills,” Bhuvneshwar said in the post-match press conference.
Among Bhuvneshwar’s four wickets on Sunday evening, perhaps the most crucial one was that of Pakistan skipper Babar Azam.
Babar, who had forged an unbroken 152-run stand with Mohammad Rizwan in the team’s 10-wicket thrashing of India in the T20 World Cup last year, was undone by a bouncer from Bhuvneshwar in the third over of the innings, getting a thick top edge that resulted in a simple catch for Arshdeep Singh at short fine leg.
Read: Nonchalant Hardik Pandya shines brightest amid a galaxy of stars
And according to Bhuvi, Babar’s dismissal was crucial to the Indian team restricting Pakistan below 150 instead of a more competitive score in the range of 170-180, although they still hand to contend with keeping the likes of Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman quiet in the remaining overs.
“Once Babar was dismissed, we did not think that half of the Pakistan team has been dismissed. He is a good player but technically there were nine other batters still left.
“As a team, we do not think that if the best batter is out, then half of the team is dismissed. But yes, once he was out, we knew their plans will be disturbed as the batter who plays the role of the anchor was gone,” Bhuvneshwar added.
India next take on Hong Kong in the second and final group fixture on Tuesday, which will then by followed by the Super 4 matches in which the top two teams from each of the two groups battle it out in round-robin format.
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
Denial of responsibility! NewsAzi is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
