Australia vs India 2018-19: Why Kohli should include Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the Adelaide playing XI
Curator Damian Hough’s statement about leaving some grass on the Adelaide pitch could be good news for Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
In the past few days, leading up to the first Test at Adelaide Oval, many experts have opined that India should exclude Bhuvneshwar Kumar as there won’t be much swing on offer. Former India pacer Zaheer Khan has said that India should choose its three pacers from among Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav.
Apart from the assumption that there won’t be much swing on offer, the other reason presumably behind excluding Bhuvneshwar is that the others have more pace than him. But this is a bit unfair to Bhuvneshwar because in the last couple of years, he has added a yard or two to his pace.
Moreover, Bhuvneshwar has the reputation of being a very economical bowler. Pacers like Umesh and Shami can be wayward at times, but Bhuvneshwar can be trusted to be steady and solid with his line and length.
The Australian team has stroke-makers like Aaron Finch and the Marsh brothers who can be frustrated if the scoring rate stalls, and they can throw away their wickets out of frustration even in the five-day format.
So Bhuvneshwar would have still been useful even if the Adelaide pitch offered no swing. But with Hough’s declaration of a green pitch, suddenly the inclusion of Bhuvneshwar seems like a no-brainer. His selection can prove to be a master-stroke, as he would likely trouble all the Aussie batsmen - at least in the initial stages of the game,
With the pitch expected to offer bounce and a bit of swing, Bhuvneshwar can wreak havoc with his steady bowling, operating on the off-stump channel. He has also developed a good bouncer in recent times, apart from a decent yorker.
The other factor going for Bhuvneshwar is that he is the only pacer in the Indian squad who can bat. With the batting failures that India has endured on its two previous overseas series, his contribution can be very handy in the lower order.