Bhuvneshwar Kumar planning retirement? Senior team India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Friday gave birth to new speculations relating to his future in Indian cricket after he changed his Instagram bio. The pacer has been trending all across social media despite not being active in any of the formats.
Serious concerns about Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s career were raised when he was omitted from the India tour of West Indies 2023 and then subsequently when he was overlooked by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selection committee for the Asian Games.
The 33-year-old pacer played his last T20I fixture in November 2022 against New Zealand. He then got a sack for the home series against New Zealand and Sri Lanka. He also failed to impress selectors to consider him for the ODI series against Australia, earlier this year, although, he featured in all 14 games of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s last ODI dates back to January 2022 against South Africa in Boland Park. He remained wicketless in the entire three-match series against South Africa.
It seems that the BCCI has made up its mind to not look at Bhuvneshwar Kumar anymore. The only format where he could turn the heat was 50-overs cricket, but he has not been in India’s ODI squad for more than a year. Moreover, with India experimenting with its T20I squad, Bhuvi is unlikely to get a slot there as well.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar changes his Instagram bio, drops ‘Cricketer’
Meanwhile, on Friday, Bhuvneshwar Kumar threw a bombshell after he changed his Instagram bio from “Indian Cricketer” to just “Indian”. After the pacer dropped the word ‘cricketer’ from his bio, fans started wondering if this was something related to his cricket retirement.
Notably, Bhuvi’s bowling performance was on a constant decline for the past few years. He was considered the swing king for India in the limited-over format, but soon he started losing his essence. From being a pace spearhead for Team India in white-ball cricket to just being a T20I bowler, the pacer saw it all.
The Uttar Pradesh-born bowler has 21 Tests, 121 ODIs and 87 T20Is throughout his cricketing career, which saw many illustrious moments. He scalped 294 wickets in the meantime and also became India’s second-leading wicket-taker in the T20Is.
Once a shining star for India, things have gone only south for him now. It’s now just a matter of time before he officially announces his retirement from international cricket, however, he may consider becoming a regular feature in the IPL.
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