Bhuvneshwar Kumar was snubbed from the Indian team announced for the England tour over his fitness in the longest format of the game as per reports. The BCCI selection committee on Friday announced a 20-member squad for the WTC final and the England tour. Meanwhile, Bhuvi’s omission from the squad did leave the Indian fans questioning his absence in the side especially on an England tour with seaming and swinging conditions.
As per a report in IANS, the selectors snubbed Bhuvi as they were unsure of his fitness for the longest format of the game, especially on a tour as big as England’s which will see the Indian team being on the road for about 4 months.
Lack Of Match Fitness Led To Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s Snub For England Tour
“The selectors think that he is still not fit to play long format, especially on such a long tour,” a source told the news agency.
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Despite Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s absence its a well-rounded pace attack which the BCCI has announced. Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami form the core of the pace attack with Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj.
Bhuvi meanwhile, recently featured in IPL 2021 for Sunrisers Hyderabad and had no problem with his fitness. Despite that, the selection committee did not included him in the 20-man squad for England tour.
Meanwhile, missing the England tour, he is likely to lead the Indian bowling attack in Sri Lanka in July. India are to play three ODIs and three T20Is in the island nation in July. Having made his Test debut in 2013, Bhuvi has picked up 63 wickets in 21 Test matches since then.
The seamer will also have a bit of a leadership role to play in the series considering most of his senior compatriots will be in the UK for the WTC final and England Test series at that time.
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