‘Deserves a lot of respect’- Hardik Pandya appreciates Bhuvneshwar Kumar for his great comeback
India won their first T20I match against Ireland under the newly appointed captain Hardik Pandya on Sunday, June 26th. Despite a rain-affected game, the quality of Bhuvneshwar shone the brightest. In three overs, the Meerut-born gave just 16 runs and took the wicket of Balbirnie with a sensational in-swinger.
The right-arm pacer also bowled a maiden over in his three-over spell. To bowl a maiden in a 12-over game speaks volumes about any bowler and naturally, Pandya was massively impressed by the pacer in the game.
Speaking on the same, Pandya has lauded the vice-captain Bhuvneshwar for his performance and said that the latter deserves a lot of respect.
“Obviously, everyone knows what sort of calibre Bhuvi (Bhuvneswar Kumar) has as a bowler…like we say, always comes in and does the same thing over and over again. But at times flies under the carpet because nobody talks too much (about him),” Hardik said at the post-match press conference.
The stand-in captain explained further, “But if you look back, the performances that he has given, the consistency with which he has performed, he demands a lot of respect and actually he deserves it.”
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has had a very troubling past couple of years with injuries. He had to face exclusion from the Indian T20 League in 2020 and in the next season due to injuries. The pacer also missed the T20 World Cup in 2021 due to not being fit. Now, however, Bhuvneshwar has made a great comeback to cricket and is playing at his absolute best.
After winning the rain-affected first T20I match comfortably, the Men in blue have set their sights on the second T20I on 27th June 2022. Team India will then join the red ball side, who are currently practicing for a Test match against England on July 1. Sanju Samson is expected to play in place of Ruturaj Gaikwad in the second T20I as the latter had some issues with the groin.
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