Australia v India 2014/15: Dhawal Kulkarni called in as cover for the injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Mumbai seam bowler Dhawal Kulkarni has been called in as cover for the injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the Indian Test contingent for Australia. Bhuvneshwar didn’t participate in India’s warm-up session in the lead-up to the first Test at Adelaide and was later ruled out of the first Test against Australia due to a left ankle injury.

Kulkarni made his ODI debut for India in England earlier this year and was part of the Indian team that beat Sri Lanka 5-0 at home last month, where he picked up 8 wickets in the 3 games that he played, including a four-wicket haul in the fourth ODI at Kolkata. He was part of the Mumbai team that lost to Jammu & Kashmir in the Ranji Trophy on Wednesday.

“Dhawal will be flying to Australia on Saturday and we are in the process of getting his visa done. He is going there as cover for Bhuvaneshwar Kumar who has injured his ankle and will come home, take treatment, and then go back to Australia,” BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel told PTI.

ESPNcricinfo, however are reporting that Bhuvneshwar will stay with the team in Australia as it would be best for his recovery if he was treated by the team’s physiotherapists in Australia.

The 24-year-old Bhuvneshwar had a very good tour of England earlier this year, where he picked up 19 wickets from 5 Tests with the ball and also proved to be useful with the bat scoring two half-centuries. He featured in India’s 2-1 ODI series win over the West Indies at home but was rested for the subsequent 5-match series against Sri Lanka.

His absence was dearly felt in the first innings of the Adelaide Test as Australia piled up 517 for 7 thanks to hundreds from David Warner, Michael Clarke and Steven Smith against an Indian bowling attack that lacked bite.

However, the batsmen seemed to have brought the Indians back into the game, amassing 369 for 5 at the end of day three with captain Virat Kohli scoring a fabulous hundred and Murali Vijay, Chethshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane all scoring half-centuries.