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India’s pace-bowling veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar did not make a desired comeback to T20Is, taking just one wicket from three T20Is in the ongoing five-T20I series against New Zealand. While Bhuvneshwar has bowled well in patches, he has been expensive at 11.58 runs per over, considerably higher than his T20I career economy rate. But the T20I comeback seems to have given him hope, and he intends to return to 50-over cricket by playing the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2026-27.
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“It is great to be playing for India again, but I am not thinking too much about the future. I will continue to play domestic cricket, whether it is Mushtaq Ali or Vijay Hazare. I did not chase this (playing for India again), though it was always the dream. Credit goes to my performances in the IPL over the past two years,” he told the media after India’s authoritative six-wicket win over New Zealand in the third T20I of the series.
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Bhuvneshwar says he is proud of himself for making a comeback to international cricket on the back of performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Bhuvneshwar hasn't played a One-Day game since December 2023. In the match against Andhra, he claimed one wicket and went for 48 runs off seven overs. His previous ODI appearance was against South Africa in 2022. He remained wicketless and conceded 67 runs from eight overs.
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Will Krishna’s fitness concerns open doors for Bhuvi’s ODI comeback
Prasidh Krishna was picked for the first three ODIs of the five-ODI series. But his participation is subject to fitness. Sports Tak has learnt that Krishna underwent match simulations on October 22 and 24, and now he has been asked for another round scheduled for November 1 & 2.
CoE does not seem convinced that Krishna has fully recovered and is match-ready. The ODI series against New Zealand begins on November 4. The selectors and the team management may not risk another injury to Krishna ahead of the two-Test series.
This may lead to an early comeback of Bhuvneshwar without playing a single One-Day game for nearly three years. This may bring him in contention for the ODI World Cup 2027 on South Africa soil.
Bhuvneshwar’s ODI record on New Zealand soil
Bhuvneshwar has played 10 ODIs on New Zealand soil and bagged 11 wickets from 78.1 overs. He averages 37.27 and has an economy rate of 5.24 runs per over.
India’s ODI squad for the first three ODIs:
Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vc), KL Rahul (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Gurnoor Brar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Kishan [WK], Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna*, Kuldeep Yadav.
India’s ODI squad for fourth and fifth ODIs: Shreyas Iyer (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan [WK, VC], Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Mohammed Siraj, Yash Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav.
When will Bhuvneshwar make Vijay Hazare Trophy return?
Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to begin their Vijay Hazare Trophy 2026-27 campaign against Bengal on December 14. If picked in the Uttar Pradesh One-Day squad, he will play in the tournament after missing two seasons.
Before the domestic 50-over tournament, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2026 will begin on November 14. Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to play Uttar Pradesh in their opening round match. The league stage will end on November 26. The final will be played on December 6. His participation in all the T20 and One-Day games depends on his fitness. If he remains in India’s plans for T20Is, he will play in the three-T20I series against Sri Lanka from December 22 to 27.
Bhuvneshwar believes bowlers can still control the game in T20Is
Bhuvneshwar has struggled to take wickets on his T20I return. After conceding 99 runs in the first two T20Is, he went for 40 runs in his quota of four overs in the third T20I. So far, all games have been high-scoring. After the third T20I, he was asked whether conditions are unfavourable for bowlers, tilting more and more in favour of batters. The pacer believes that despite a reduced margin of error, a bowler can still control the game by adapting to the conditions quickly.
“This is a debatable question. We say that the conditions favour the batters nowadays and all that, but I still believe that a bowler can control the game. The reason is that we feed the ball to the batter.
“I know that the margin of error is very low, which we generally talk about. But still, a bowler can land the ball wherever he wants to. I strongly believe that a bowler can control the game,” said Bhuvneshwar.
“There are small boundaries. Everything is given to the batters. But still, a bowler is the one who feeds the ball to the batter. Then it’s up to the batter what he wants to play, whether he wants to play according to the ball or not. But still, if you look at the good bowlers, they are still doing well. They are consistent. Even if the game is not equal, the bowler adapts quickly. We’ve seen it in IPL; we’ve seen it here as well,” he added.
2 more chances for Bhuvneshwar?
India have already taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series. The next two T20Is are in Auckland and Hamilton. Bhuvneshwar will have a lot to prove in the remaining two T20Is to prove that he can replicate his IPL success for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in international cricket as well. India bowling coach Morne Morkel has already asked Bhuvneshwar to rid himself from the burden of expectations.
Skipper Shreyas Iyer has trusted Bhuvneshwar so far but he may look to test players on the bench. Mayank Yadav has been benched after an impressive outing in the first T20I, where he generated bounce and caused problems. India are yet to test their specialist spinners Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav in the series.
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