"This is going to be a great opportunity for him to showcase his skills" - Dinesh Karthik on Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Indian wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik feels that the upcoming T20I series against West Indies is a great chance for Bhuvneshwar Kumar to rediscover himself. The medium-pacer had a series of poor outings in South Africa and was dropped from the squad for the recently concluded ODI series against the West Indies.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a senior bowler in the squad with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami being rested for the home series. Apart from the 32-year-old, the pace attack is built around the likes of Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, and Mohammad Siraj.
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Noting that Bhuvneshwar Kumar can take advantage of the conditions in Kolkata, Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz:
"Obviously everybody knows that he has not probably gone well as you would have liked him to in the previous series. So this is going to be a great opportunity for him to showcase his skills. "
Karthik added:
"It's a good thing that in Kolkata the ball does tend to move. So, I think under lights he'll be more than happy to swing the ball both ways and pick up a few early wickets."
The Sunrisers Hyderabad bowler has lost grip over his place in the playing XI over the years and did not have an eventful T20 World Cup either. However, Shaun Pollock believes that Bhuvneshwar Kumar only needs to reinvent himself to adapt to the modern game. The former Proteas all-rounder said:
"I've always been impressed over the years by Bhuvi's ability to move the ball both ways. Also his ability to bowl good variations and mix it up with short stuff and bowl nasty at the death. I think he just needs to get back to that way. Maybe just reinvent himself just a little bit and keep up with the times."
The right-arm pace had figures of 0-12 in two overs, the last time he bowled at Eden Gardens. He was unable to complete his quota of overs with New Zealand being bowled out in 17.2 overs in the third T20I.
"I expect West Indies to compete much better than what they did last week" - Dinesh Karthik
West Indies were tame at best during the recently concluded ODI series against India. The Caribbean side lost the series by a 3-0 margin, exposing several flaws, especially with their batting.
However, the team is a different proposition when it comes to the shortest format of the game. The two-time T20 World Champions pose as a threat despite a poor campaign at the T20 World Cup in 2021.
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The #MenInMaroon have travelled to Kolkota ahead of the T20I Series v India. https://t.co/HUx9X48ppo
Coming on the back of an impressive 3-2 series win over England, Dinesh Karthik labeled the visiting side a threat. He said:
"West Indies' strength is this format. One interesting name is Shai Hope, obviously, he prefers the other two formats but it's good to see them backing him here as well. I'm sure he will be a backup for Nicholas Pooran."
Karthik concluded:
"It does look like a pretty solid West Indies T20 team. I expect them to compete much better than what they did last week."
The first T20I between India and West Indies will take place later today (February 16, Wednesday) at the Eden Gardens.