India vs Australia | Wasn’t great in the last match but neither was it bad, says Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar made his long-awaited return to the matchday squad on Saturday but admitted that he could have performed better than he did, ending the day with figures 2/66. Kumar revealed that he was happy to be bowling at speeds of 135 kmph once again after working on his fitness.
After a long spell on the sidelines, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar made his return to the Indian matchday squad as he was part of the team that lost to Australia by 34 runs in the series opener on Saturday. The Indian medium-pacer ended the day with figures of 2/66 after bowling 10-overs in the game at the SCG.
However, Kumar admitted that there was still some more match practice needed for him to reach his peak potential after having an extended spell on the sidelines. Kumar was part of the Indian squad that registered a 2-1 win against Australia in the recently concluded Test series but failed to feature in the matchday squad for any of the four matches.
“It did impact me. Matches are totally different when it comes to bowling. I was trying everything to be in rhythm in the nets, but it can’t be 100% until you come to a match. It wasn’t great in the last match but neither was it bad. It could improve, of course.
“See, in the nets, I was not planning to bowl in the one-dayers. I was preparing to bowl in any of the Test matches. There wasn’t anything specific I could do. It was just normal bowling. Increasing the number of overs .. four to six to eight to ten … that was the key thing for me, to be niggle-free and be in bowling rhythm,” Kumar said, reported PTI.
The 28-year old has had his fair share of trouble with niggling injuries in the past which saw him bowl at speeds below 135
“I was going through a niggle at that time, so you can’t bowl at 100% during that period. Since then I’ve trained a lot, especially during this past month of the Test series, so that’s the reason I am back to bowling 130-135. The main thing is that I am niggle-free right now,” said Bhuvneshwar. “It’s been a mixture of weight-training, running and bowling a lot in the nets.