He might not have made it to the India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2024, he might have missed the opportunity to impress the selectors for various tournaments, but Bhuvneshwar Kumar is in a league of his own. On Wednesday, during the SRH vs LSG match, where the Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, and after the match, Sanjiv Goenka and KL Rahul made the headlines, Bhuvi went about his business quietly.
In a match where Pat Cummins gave away 12.50 runs per over, Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned with miserly figures of 2/12. This, when he isn’t considered to be at his best. In IPL 2024, Bhuvi has only 11 wickets in 12 games, at an average of 37, but he still does his job with an economy of 9.13. That too considering, he also bowls at the start of the innings, and also the death overs.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar vs LSG
In his first spell itself, vs LSG, Bhuvi gave hints that it was going to be his day. First he removed LSG opener Quinton de Kock early for 2, and then got rid of Marcus Stoinis in the very next over. That meant, the opposition could only score 27/2 in the powerplay overs. If that was not enough to show Bhuvi’s brilliance, then consider this. When the bowler wasn’t operating in the middle overs, that was when the most runs were scored.
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Till the 16th over, Ayush Badoni and Nicholas Pooran had taken the score to 112/4 at the end of the 16th over. That means runs in that period came at a much rapid pace of around 8.5. Then coming in to bowl the 18th over, the fast bowler gave away only five singles. The 19th over brought 15 runs, while the 20th brought 19. So, easily, Bhuvi emerged as the best bowler for SRH.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, The White-ball Legend
The out-of-favour India pacer, Bhuvi, despite a ‘so-called’ ordinary IPL 2024 season, is nothing short of a legend. He has 181 wickets in 172 matches at an average of 26. What’s even better is his economy rate of 7.51. Forget the IPL, he has even better numbers in T20Is. In 87 matches, he has 90 wickets to his name, at an average of 23, and an economy of 6.96. That speaks volumes this UP player.
But then, as is the case in cricket. The batsmen hog all the limelight. This time it was Abhishek Sharma (75 from 28), and Travis Head (89 from 30), who stole Bhuvi’s thunder. The duo achieved the 166-run target in only 9.4 overs. If that wasn’t enough, the Sanjiv Goenka vs KL Rahul episode after the match, was the only talking point, after Lucknow succumbed to their worst-ever defeat.
