IPL 2017: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the Purple hero for Sunrisers Hyderabad

Hyderabad's golden boy Bhuvneshwar Kumar isn't a favourite in the Indian limited-overs team

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the lanky swing bowler from Meerut, stamped his presence at the international stage with a scintillating show in his debut T20I for India against arch-rivals, Pakistan. His stats in that game are worth drooling over, a spell of four overs that leaked just nine runs and yielded three top order wickets. But there is a story that stats don't tell. The banana swing into the batsmen that Bhuvi (as he is fondly called) generated, created a buzz in cricketing circles.

“I haven’t seen a bowler like Bhuvneshwar in a long time. What stands out, even more, is that he swung the ball both ways,” former Indian skipper, Kapil Dev had told The Telegraph post Bhuvi's debut.

He was right. India barely have had a proper swing bowler since Kapil Dev. Stating that he did a fine job for India in the early years would be an understatement. Bhuvneshwar was excellent. But the obsession with raw pace saw him sidelined after the first few seasons although he hovered in and around the eleven always. 

The IPL twist and the transformation

While Bhuvneshwar Kumar was always known as a new ball bowler, who could move the ball around on most surfaces, a secondary skill was slowly being worked upon in the background. It came to the forefront in the 2014 Indian Premier League season. 

A fast bowler, who was in and out of the playing eleven, started finding regular game time but the role had changed a bit. Bhuvneshwar, like most frontline pacers, was used for two overs at least in the death and when that happens in T20s, it generally means more wickets.

But in Bhuvi's case, there was something different. 

He wasn't leaking the gargantuan amount of runs unlike the other death over wicket-takers. What stood out was his ability to land the perfect yorker and trouble the best in the business at the fag end of an innings. His stats in the 2014 season are rather underestimated – he finished that season with 20 wickets in 14 games at an average of 17.70 and a best of 4/14. But the striking factor in those stats was his economy rate, which stood at 6.65. 

"How you practice in the nets is important because if you give 100 % then you can hope 80-90 % of the things will work in a match situation and under pressure. In T20, it’s all about how you handle pressure; sometimes you start thinking about the result and not the process. I am lucky that somehow I have managed to concentrate on the process and not results", Bhuvi revealed as reported by The Hindustan Times.

Four seasons of excellence and some stats

Bhuvneshwar Kumar continued to be a key player in the IPL, excelling as the death bowler for Sunrisers Hyderabad under David Warner. In the Aussie, he found a supporting skipper, who used Bhuvneshwar to his strengths. And the results were astounding. 

Since 2014, Bhuvneshwar has remained in the top 10 wicket-takers of an IPL season. But, that's merely putting it mildly. Bhuvneshwar has finished outside the top 3 only once in the past 4 seasons. In 2017, he became the first bowler in the IPL to retain the purple cap. He had taken 18 wickets in 2015, bettered that to 23 in 2016 to bag the purple cap and exceeded all expectations with 26 in this season, winning the purple cap for a second time in a row

The seamer also crossed 100 wickets in the IPL this season, becoming the ninth bowler to pass the feat. He also joined hands with Dwyane Bravo as the bowlers to grab the purple cap twice. 

The story that stats don't tell

As is the case in cricket a lot of times, stats only tell a small chunk of the story. Bhuvneshwar's value to the team is much more than a purple cap. The assurance that he provides at the death has freed up others in the bowling line-up and relieved a lot of pressure off David Warner, the captain. 

His battle with Manan Vohra in the clash against Kings XI Punjab was one of the highlights of the IPL season. Bhuvi finished the game with 5/19 and almost won the game for Sunrisers single-handedly after Vohra's exquisite knock. What Bhuvneshwar did was target the main batsman rather than looking to chip away at the other end. That is a sign of confidence as telling as it can be. 

It is a puzzle as to why Bhuvi wasn't picked in the World T20 2016 squad of 15 initially although he was added as a 16th member later. India has had an obsession with pace of late and this has seen Bhuvneshwar left on the sidelines far too often. It is unfair to someone who has immaculate control over his swing, line and length.

Sunrisers' bowling coach and former legend, Muttiah Muralitharan realises this and said as much when speaking of Bhuvi as reported by the Hindustan Times. "Unfortunately he has not played much T20 cricket for India. He will be a very big prospect for India as well, in these conditions or in any conditions. Hopefully, people will realise that. He is one of the most successful bowlers in IPL history as a fast bowler."

The bowler who handed the great Sachin Tendulkar his first duck in First-class cricket deserves better from the Indian skipper and selectors. As another IPL bids good bye, Bhuvneshwar Kumar will emerge as India's biggest takeaway in limited overs cricket provided they use him wisely.