Top 4 revival stories for Bhuvneshwar Kumar in international cricket

First Indian fast bowler to scalp a fifer in T20I

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is one of the few players in Indian cricket team who play all three formats of the game. The right arm bowling all-rounder possesses exceptional skills that he has developed over the years, along with his instinctive urge to be an indispensable player.

Whenever he was dropped from the team, he swung back sharply to grab his place, much like how he traps the batsmen. With every return, he came back as an evolved cricketer who would breach his own limitations along the way.

His maiden fifer in the first T20I in Johannesburg against South Africa made him the first Indian to grab five-wicket haul in every format of the game.

Here are the few instances that brought the superb performances from him that helped him make a statement after being from the side:

#4 Maiden fifty and five-wicket haul - India tour of Sri Lanka (2017)

Composed Bhuvi winning the game with Dhoni

When India toured Sri Lanka last year, the swing bowler was part of the test squad but not included in the playing XI for the series. But a crucial and memorable ODI series was in the queue for the seamer.

With the start of the 50-over series, he was desperate to establish himself again. At the end of three matches, his drought for wickets in the ODI series lead him to be dropped out of the playing XI in the following match. The exclusion happened despite his heroics with the bat in second ODI where he played a match-winning 53* with MS Dhoni to guide India home in the chase.

Thus, when he was included for the final ODI at Colombo, he had a point to prove with the ball. He dominated the batsmen right from the beginning of the innings. He trapped Niroshan Dickwella and Dilshan Munaweera early in the innings, both with the knuckleball. Later, when Lahiru Thirimanne was well all set, Bhuvi came back to clean him up with his seam bowling.

Ultimately, he claimed the first fifer of his ODI career, thereby winning the Player of the Match award.

#3 Curry in the Caribbean (2016)

Kumar pulled things in India's direction with his consistent bowling

It's time to rollback to the year 2016 when Team India toured the West Indies. Keeping in mind, the bouncy nature of pitches, Kumar was not considered for the first two Test matches. Hence, when included in the team for third game in St.Lucia, he must've hoped to turn the tables.

It was not too difficult for the class bowler who had been the first to dismiss the legendary Sachin Tendulkar for a duck in his Ranji Trophy career.

Though India scored 353 in the first innings, the hosts were in a comfortable position to avoid another defeat, as the third day's play been eaten up by rain. Chances were high that the match would end in a draw with a day been already lost.

However, the bowler from Uttar Pradesh had other plans. In a spell of 8 overs, he literally swung the game India's favour by mixing up with deliveries that went both ways, to keep the batsmen guessing.

The innings marked his third five-wicket haul in Tests. India went on to win the match. His first wicket of the match was also his first Test scalp since January 2015.

#2 A rare 4-for in each of innings - Sri Lanka tour of India (2017)

Double treat from the seamer

After making a strong comeback in ODI cricket two months earlier, his fairy tale against the island nation continued in the Test format as well.

The first match was held at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, where the pitch was drafted to simulate South African conditions.The same was evident in the first innings of the game, when RAS Lakmal bowled outstandingly well to claim four Indian wickets.

When it comes to swing bowling, not many bowlers in Indian cricket can exploit the conditions better than Kumar, and he showed that in the second innings. He went on to deliver good spells consistently to collect four wickets of his own, which was followed by an impeccable 100 from Virat Kohli,

The right-arm bowler, who was adjudged the Man of the Match for the game, dismantled four more wickets in the next innings. India could not win the match due to bad light, as it winded up in a draw.

However, it was pleasant to see the pacer end up with extraordinary figures of 8-4 in the fourth innings. This rare feat of scalping a four-fer in both innings was previously achieved by Mohammed Shami in 2013.

#1 Overcoming the Proteas challenge (2018)

An all round(er's) performance!

The ongoing tour of South Africa also offered has been exceptional for Kumar.

The visitors, who decided to drop the medium pacer after the first Test, despite him been the highest wicket-taker for the team in that match. The bouncy nature of the pitch in the second Test saw him being replaced by Ishant Sharma.

This decision was a heavily criticized by many cricket fans and experts.

Having lost the second match as well, the team was desperate for a consolation win in the third and final game. In order to restore its strength, the team brought back the pacer for the next game. It witnessed yet another dimension of him and that too, at an elite level.

The pitch at Johannesburg was doing a great deal and demanded courage from the batsmen.

Kumar scored a neat knock of 30 runs in the first innings and was the last man to be dismissed. While bowling, the he scalped three quick breakthroughs (AB De Villiers getting bowled off his swinging delivery remains a highlight of the spell).

In the second innings as well, the visitors were in dire need of some well-stitched partnerships. They could only manage a couple of them, among which, the duo of Kumar and Rahane managed the highest score (55 runs off 86 balls).

The interesting part was that most runs scored and most balls faced in the partnership were by Kumar (33 runs off 76). He also formed a lively collaboration with Shami to restore India's advantage over the South African score.

It also assured a real lead for Kohli and Co. India won the match comfortably, thanks to Bhuvi's brilliant all-round performance.