Bhuvneshwar buoyant. Was always our man: Coach

Was always our man: Coach

London, June 10: India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar feels his three-wicket haul in the 36-run win over Australia in a World Cup match here is a huge moralebooster for him as it came on a flat batting deck.

Bhuvneshwar was the pick of the India bowlers, taking 3 for 50 in his 10 over quota in India’s win against the defending champions in their second World Cup game.

“This performance is very satisfying because if you look at the conditions, it is fully in favour of batsmen. There’s nothing much for the bowler and managing to get them out on this wicket has been a good boost,” Bhuvneshwar said during his interaction in mixed zone after Sunday’s match.

David Warner struggled during his 65 off 84 balls and Bhuvneshwar attributed it to proper planning by his team’s bowlers. “Since there wasn’t much help from the wicket, we didn’t wish to give them much room and we capitalised on it. That was our plan,” he said.

The most important wicket was former skipper Steve Smith which effectively closed the game in India’s favour, according to Bhuvneshwar. “I bowled a slower one and he missed it. That’s how I got the wicket. In fact, shuffling across to the off-stump is his strength and he gets maximum runs that way. This time he missed. He missed that ball and it was a good thing for us,” he said.

The bowling unit was mentally prepared for a grind and the primary aim was to make life difficult for batsmen. “The Oval has always been a good batting track and there’s not much for the bowlers. We knew, it would be a high-scoring match and were mentally prepared... just tried to make it difficult for the batsmen with variations,” he said. — PTI London, June 10: India’s bowling coach Bharath Arun said team management had always been clear that it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who would be Jasprit Bumrah’s new-ball partner in the seamer-friendly English conditions during World Cup.

While Mohammed Shami played bulk of the matches across formats as Bumrah’s new ball partner, a lot of eyebrows were raised when Shami was dropped in favour of the UP pacer.

“I think in the first place it was always Bumrah and Bhuvi even before the start of the tournament,” Arun said during an interaction at the mixed zone.

“Because considering the English conditions, Bhuvi is a good option as he moves ball around pretty well and is good at the death too.

They were always the first two choices. Yes, he (Shami) will have his chances in the tournament and once you are in the team, you have got to wait for your chances and grab onto the opportunities that come your way,” the bowling coach had words of encouragement for the Bengal pacer.

Jasprit Bumrah has now been India’s primary weapon and Arun feels that it is a dream to have an asset like him. “It’s a dream to have a bowler like Bumrah. He is

probably one of the best in the world — both at the start as well as at the death. My job is to remind them about plans and what they have done in the past,” he said.

He was happy that the team executed the plan against David Warner perfectly as he didn’t get a single delivery to play the cut shot. “The plan was to not give Warner any width and take the pace away from the ball. I thought they executed the plan well,” he said. Kuldeep Yadav seemed to be rediscovering himself after a horrendous IPL and Arun said all he did prior to the start of the tournament was remind the young left-arm wrist spinner about the things that got him success in the first place. “Every bowler goes through a phase where they have a rough patch just like an out-of-form batsman. My job was to remind him and show him all the good things that he had done in the past. Sometimes, they tend to move away from basics and you need to show them what made them successful so that they can get back to their own self,” the coach said.

This performance is very satisfying because if you look at the conditions, it is fully in favour of batsmen. There’s nothing much for the bowler and managing to get them out on this wicket has been a good boost.

— BHUVNESHWAR KUMAR Team India pace bowler