The Indian bowlers looked helpless in the first Test against England in Rajkot as the ever-dependable duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja found it tough to wave their wands on a pitch that looked like a batting paradise. It was pretty clear that the team was missing the services of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has time and again proved to be efficient with both, the new and the old ball.
Also read: India vs England first Test: Live score and commentary
The speedster was left out of the squad due to an injury that he had suffered during the second Test against New Zealand last month. The right-armer during an interview with Sportstar stated that he was pretty much frustrated with being frequently injured and missing out on important matches.
It’s a challenging time, says Bhuvneshwar
"Obviously it’s frustrating that you are in the team and get injured when you are performing well. You can’t play cricket, you can hardly bowl, if at all you are allowed to do fitness for an hour or so, you have to do that and then get bored for the rest of the day. It’s a challenging time for anyone," he said.
The 26-year-old has been in and out of the team over the last few months due to his injury. He didn't get to play the entire Test series against West Indies and New Zealand earlier this year.
The Sportstar quoted him as saying, "For me, the last year has been especially frustrating – play a game, then get injured, again come back and an injury follows. The last month has been frustrating in a different way since it wasn't a major injury as such. I could have carried on but there was a chance of it getting aggravated. It was a 50-50 situation but now that I have fully recovered, am feeling really good about myself and raring to start bowling in matches again."
Looking forward to captaincy
Bhuvneshwar also mentioned that it was disappointing that he got injured at a time when he had found his best rhythm. "When you are playing well you are into rhythm. Match rhythm is a completely different thing but when you are injured, it’s difficult to return to rhythm straightaway," he said.
Also read: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, KL Rahul to feature in next round of Ranji Trophy matches
The right-armer claimed that he was extremely happy with the fact that he has recovered in time and was looking forward to captaining the Uttar Pradesh Ranji team in their clash against Mumbai on Sunday. "Definitely feels great. Leading any side, especially the stateside where it all started but I am not thinking anything about leading the side at the moment. Basically, leading a side is a gut feeling about taking decisions on the field," he said.
Bhuvneshwar will be looking to make a mark in the Ranji Trophy clash against Mumbai in order to capture the selection committee's attention.
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