After being put in to bat first in the WTC Final, India was in a healthy position at 146/3 but a monumental collapse on Day 3 saw the Men in Blue get blown away for 217. Kyle Jamieson was the wrecker-in-chief, snatching his fifth 5-wicket haul in the World Test Championship.
The conditions were completely in favor of the bowlers at the Ageas Bowl, with a lot of swing on offer at both ends. The Kiwis made merry of it, and their choice of going in with five pace bowlers was justified. However, when it was India’s turn with the ball in hand, the seamers weren’t as effective as their counterparts.
Although Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami are predominantly seam bowlers, their glaring lack of movement in the air with the ball was surprising. It might be down to the fact that the clouds started dispersing at the fag end of the Indian innings.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was missed according to Twitterati
Not to mention the length that the Indians executed was way too easy for the Kiwi openers to negotiate. As a result, India failed to pick up a wicket with the new Dukes ball for the first 34 overs. Eventually, it was the off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, who provided the crucial breakthrough for India.
This ineffectiveness with the new ball in favorable conditions compelled fans to think about what Bhuvneshwar Kumar could have done in similar conditions. Bhuvneshwar, who last played a Test in 2018, has been in and out of the national side due to recurring injuries.
He recently made a return to the limited-overs side against England, and will next be part of the squad for the Sri Lankan tour. Even though Bhuvneshwar has fallen down the pecking order in the longest format, he intends to make a comeback to the side at the earliest.
Here are some reactions on Bhuvneshwar Kumar after Day 3 of the WTC Final:
https://twitter.com/ParallelThreads/status/1406641003230994433?s=20
Random thought:
A fully fit Bhuvneshwar kumar could have been deadly in these English conditions.#WTCFinal2021 #WorldTestChampionship
— Avaneeth Raghavan (@AvaneethR) June 21, 2021
Indian bowers failed to get the lateral movement.. missing #bhuvneshwarkumar badly here.. he can swing the ball both ways effectively.. I hope for better tomorrow ЁЯЩП
— Hemanth Kumar (@HemanthKhmar) June 20, 2021
Meanwhile Bhuvneshwar Kumar seeing the amount of swing in #WTCFinal21 be like – #NZvIND #INDvNZ @BhuviOfficial pic.twitter.com/6serGTAXjb
— Ankit Anand (@iamankitanands) June 20, 2021
https://twitter.com/Mandar12_/status/1406640785253048320?s=20
In English Conditions
Bhuvneshwar Kumar > All other Indian Bowlers. #WTCFinal #IndiaVsNewZealand— рм╕рнБрмЬрм┐рмдрнН рмХрнБрморм╛рм░ рмирм╛рнЯрмХ (@SujitKrNayak) June 20, 2021
