"This debate at this point in time is over" - Aakash Chopra says Bhuvneshwar Kumar is definitely going for T20 World Cup
Aakash Chopra believes Bhuvneshwar Kumar has sealed his place in India's T20 World Cup squad as long as the swing bowler retains his fitness.
Kumar registered exceptional figures of 3-15 in the three overs he bowled in the second T20I against England on Saturday, July 9. His spell helped India bowl out the hosts for just 121 to win by 49 runs and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that Kumar has stolen a march over Deepak Chahar for a spot in India's World Cup squad, elaborating:
"One man's loss is another man's opportunity because Deepak Chahar was ahead in this race. He got injured; Bhuvneshwar got a chance instead of him, and he made the best use of it. I think this debate, at this point, in time is over, if fitness and everything remains fine, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is definitely going for the World Cup."
Chopra also picked the Meerut-born seamer as the star performer in the second T20I, explaining:
"Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was also chosen as the Player of the Match, is my Player of the Match as well for a simple reason that with the new ball he had dismissed Jos Buttler in the last match; it was an incoming delivery, and here, he dismissed Jason Roy with an outgoing delivery off the first ball."
Jos Buttler was castled for a golden duck by Kumar in the first T20I. Jason Roy met the same fate in the second game, as he was caught at slip by Rohit Sharma off the first ball of the England innings.
"170 runs I thought was a chaseable total" - Aakash Chopra on Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Chopra added that Kumar dismissing Buttler after accounting for Roy made England's 171-run target seem like a tall task. He observed:
"Then the keeper was standing up, actually a very good catch by Rishabh Pant; it was a good review as well, and there Jos Buttler was also out. 170 runs, I thought, was a chaseable total, and if even one out of Roy or Buttler had fired, the total would have looked very small."
The 44-year-old concluded by pointing out that Kumar seems to have regained his mojo recently. He said:
"But twin strikes in the first couple of overs, well done Bhuvneshwar Kumar. There was a time when we were saying, the World Cup was also cold; the Bhuvneshwar rhythm was not being seen; the zip was missing, the effectiveness was not there, and that has come back."
I am probably going overboard with these Bhuvneshwar Kumar tweets of late but numbers will tell you that the world has never seen a greater Powerplay bowler in T20 cricket and no one talks about that.
Kumar has been in excellent form since the start of the T20I series against South Africa at home. The wily swing bowler has picked up 12 wickets in the last eight innings and has been quite economical as well.