Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Saturday quashed rumours of him not wanting to play Test cricket anymore. The Meerut-born was not picked in India's 20-member squad for four-month long England tour comprising the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand in June and a five-Test series against the hosts.
Despite having good numbers in English conditions, Bhuvneshwar didn't make the cut. He has so far played 21 Tests for India but his last appearance in the longest format came in 2018 against South Africa.
Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohd Shami, Mohd Siraj, Shardul Thakur, and Umesh Yadav will be part of India's Test fast-bowling unit in England. Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, and Arzan Nagwaswalla have also been picked in the list of standby players.
Rubbishing reports that claimed that Bhuvneshwar doesn't want to play Test cricket anymore, the 31-year-old took to Twitter to write that he's always 'prepared' himself to represent India in all three formats.
"There have been articles about me not wanting to play Test cricket. Just to clarify, I have always prepared myself for all three formats irrespective of the team selection and will continue to do the same. Suggestion - please don't write your assumptions based on “sources”!" Bhuvneshwar tweeted.
In the red-ball format, Bhuvneshwar has so far picked 63 wickets at an average of 26.1. He suffered a thigh muscle injury during IPL 2020 in the UAE, ruling him out of India's tour of Australia.
He made a comeback to the national side with the home series against England and picked six wickets in three ODIs at an average of 22.5 and an economy rate of 4.65. In the five-T20I series against the Three Lions, he took four wickets at an average of 28.75 before joining the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the now-suspended IPL 2021.
