On a day when the Indian fans were disappointed with the loss against arch-rivals Pakistan, debutant Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s outstanding spell of 3-9 gave them something to cheer for.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: a star in the making?
From a solid opening partnership of 77 between Gautam Gambhir (43) and Ajinkya Rahane (41), India was reeling at a lowly 133/9 by the end of the 20 overs. MS Dhoni surprised everybody by giving the new ball to Kumar ahead of the better experienced Ishant Sharma and Ashok Dinda. In this pressure situation the 22-yr old impressed with his swing and seam as he rocked the Pakistan top order by claiming three wickets in his first two overs. Pakistani opener Nasir Jamashed was the first to be dismissed at a score of 2. The second ball of his second over saw the dismissal of Ahmed Shehzad who was caught behind of an outswinger followed by the wicket of Umar Akmal whose stumps were ruthlessly uprooted in the last delivery of the same over reducing Pakistan to 12-3.
His brilliant figures of 4-0-9-3 were 12th best in T20 internationals and second best by an Indian after Pragyan Ojha’s 4-0-21-4 against Bangladesh in 2009. His economy rate was also the best ever by an Indian bowler in T20s equaling that of Ravindra Jadeja against England last year.
Bhuvneshwar made his First Class debut for Uttar Pradesh in 2007 and has been a consistent performer since then. He is also the only bowler to dismiss Sachin Tendulkar on his first ever duck in domestic Cricket.
The Meerut lad plays for the Pune Warriors India in the India Premier League. He was picked in the T20 squad for England and Pakistan after his stellar performances for Uttar Pradesh and India A. He has scored a massive 401 runs at an average of 50.12 and took 30 wickets in 8 matches in the 2012-13 Ranji season.
At 22, Bhuvneshwar Kumar could very well be the all-rounder India’s been desperately looking for.
Tags: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Cricket, India, India Premier League, IPL, Meerut, Pakistan, Pune Warriors India, The Sports Mirror, Uttar Pradesh
