Bhuvneshwar Kumar: The found pace, the lost inswinger
When he burst on to the scene, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was quite similar to Praveen Kumar. He could swing the ball both ways and strike up front. Bhuvneshwar and Praveen also shared the same city of Meerut and played for the same Ranji Team of Uttar Pradesh. Much was expected from him as Praveen had been the mainstay of the Indian bowling unit for a considerable amount of time but a poor run of form meant that the team management gave Bhuvneshwar the nod.
The Promise
Bhuvneshwar Kumar made his International debut against arch rivals Pakistan in the first of three T20 Internationals on Pakistan's historic tour of India in 2012. His talent and skill were evident from the very first over when he spectacularly bowled Pakistani opening batsman Nasir Jamshed after setting him up perfectly.
The final ball pitched on a good length around the off stump, and surprisingly for Nasir, came back and dislodged the off stump. Clearly, the batsman wasn't prepared and had to walk back. Bhuvneshwar, the rookie, dismissed perhaps the most prolific of the Pakistani batsmen against India at the time.
Bhuvneshwar had a sharp inswinger and every now and again, he would make the ball hold its line. But the inswinger was his most lethal and potent weapon. He demonstrated that in the very same match by dismissing Umar Akmal with a delivery that viciously nipped back in and dismantled the stumps.
Bhuvneshwar had impressive figures of four overs, nine runs and three wickets in his debut match. He would go on to claim many more dismissals with his prolific inswinger either LBW or bowled. It seemed that India had a prodigious fast bowler of their own who could make the ball talk and who could provide early breakthroughs.
The Struggle
In his second game for India, Bhuvneshwar had figures of four overs, 46 runs and one wicket. Questions were being asked about him bowling at the death. But it was obvious that with his skills, he could prove to be a trump card for India on overseas tours.
On India's Tour of England in 2014, Bhuvneshwar was trusted with the new ball and he certainly didn't disappoint, playing a crucial role in India's victory at Lord's after 28 years. He bagged six wickets in the first innings and scored a vital half century in the second.
He had an impressive run in the Test series picking up 19 wickets and scoring 247 runs. But it appeared as if two different Kumars turned up during the series. He was not as effective during the last two matches as he was during the first three. The pace dropped, the swing disappeared and the fizz went away as fatigue set in.
Bhuvneshwar struggled to find a place in the starting eleven in India's tour of Australia later that year mainly due to his lack of pace on hard Australian pitches. His fitness over a long tour also was a concern.
It seemed that he was also following the same path as many Indian seamers who faded away after a huge initial promise. Increasing his pace was his immediate priority if he had to cement his place in India's Test eleven.
The evolution with a Lesser Inswinger
Bhuvneshwar had a good cricketing brain and a calm head on his shoulders. He knew what he had to do and how he had to do it. He worked on his fitness and gained some weight. He had to quickly adapt to the growing T20 cricket if he didn't want to become a liability.
Now, he was consistently bowling at a pace in the range of 135 kph-140 kph, he could bowl yorkers at will and also had many versions of the slower delivery. He overwhelmingly won successive purple cap awards at IPL 2016 and IPL 2017 with the Hyderabad franchise and was David Warner's go to man when he needed wickets or when he wanted to stem the flow of runs. He also developed a sharp bouncer that would hurry the batsmen and act as a surprise weapon.
But now, the outswinger was his stock delivery. Every now and then, he would try to bowl the inswinger but very rarely it would swing as ferociously as it did earlier. He was struggling to bowl a delivery that once was his best. Perhaps he was a better bowler than when he burst on to the scene but he lost the inswinger that grabbed the eyeballs of spectators as well as cricket pundits.
The Present
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is one of the best swing bowlers going around in World cricket right now. Some would argue about the lack of competition in swing bowling department but among the few who can swing the ball both ways, he is right up there with the likes of James Anderson and Tim Southee. He has also developed his ability to bat down the order. His fans would hope he continues on his merry way and fulfils every promise shown.