In his 11th first-class match, Bhuvneshwar Kumar registered his name in history books – by consigning Sachin Tendulkar to his first first-class duck in Indian domestic cricket. Although Uttar Pradesh, Bhuvneshwar’s side, lost that 2008-09 Ranji final to Mumbai, Bhuvneshwar’s season was one big gain for UP.
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The man who gave us more than a reason to smile and celebrate needs absolutely no introduction. The first T20 against Pakistan in Bangalore was a close shave as the visitors won the match riding on the heroics of captain Hafeez and Malik. Earlier the Pakistani bowlers created a lot of problems for the Indian batsmen and left them struggling at a score of 133 when the twenty overs ended.
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With not much to defend, India started with the duo of Dinda and Kumar. Kumar delivered one after another and when his first two overs ended his figures read –
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Overs-2
Dot Balls-11
Runs-3
Wickets-3
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The boy went on to complete his quota of four overs giving away only nine runs and picking up three important wickets. More than the figures, it was the absolute magic which he performed by moving the ball around and confusing the batsmen. His in-swinger uprooted an off-stump while his constant piercing attack made sure that the trembling Pakistani batsmen were stuck on their crease, thereby managing to score just 40 odd runs in the first ten overs.
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Although Pakistan did win the match by exploiting the fillers (namely Kohli and Yuvraj) , India were gifted with a probable replacement for an injured swing maestro Irfan Pathan. One can easily say that Pathan was not missed at all.
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Now there is more to this ‘Sultan of Swing’. He is also a dependable lower middle order batsman which means he can come handy with the bat. Also, he has been trusted with the ball ahead of RP Singh and Praveen Kumar in first class matches which means the boy likes to play with the new ball.
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With all this happening, one cannot help but think about what sort of a damage this young man will do or is capable of doing with a red Test cricket ball? We can only wait till this little devil makes his Test debut. For now, we’ll have to wait for the next T20 match to see him in action again as India will look to rectify their mistakes and prove a point on their home territory against their arch rivals Pakistan, in Ahmedabad.
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See you there !!
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