Bhuvneshwar Kumar receives a bow from Virat Kohli after hitting a six

The first half of the series opener against New Zealand belonged to the Indian captain Virat Kohli, who notched up his 31st ton in ODI cricket with the help of his 121 under challenging circumstances. But during the fag end of the innings, it was a certain cameo from Bhuvneshwar Kumar which stole the show.

Bhuvi’s escapades with the bat were well renowned before but it is his contributions lately which has assisted gaining its recognition. In the match against Sri Lanka, India was looking at a certain defeat as the batters were unable to combat the mystery spin of Akila Dhananjaya.

Together with the ever-solid MS Dhoni, Bhuvneshwar Kumar stitched a match-saving partnership which rescued India from a certain defeat. He also brought up his maiden half-century in the process. India was in deep trouble yet again in the series opener against Australia, unable to combat the pace of Cummins and Coulter-Nile.

It was Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni who saved India from the blushes. But the difference between a total of 255 and 280 was created by the cameo of 32 by Bhuvi.

India reached a par total against New Zealand but was looking at a total of 260. The wicket of Pandya came as a big blow for the Indians but it brought Bhuvneshwar into the strike. Yet again, Bhuvi provided the necessary impetus into the backend of the inning with his 15-ball 26 run cameo.

Kohli, during his ton against England at Pune, perhaps played the shot of the season over mid-wicket, long on boundary. He punched a shortish ball on the backfoot with a vertical bat. Easier said than done.

That shot was only challenged by Bhuvi yesterday when he slammed a fast short ball from Adam Milne outside the off stump over the long-on boundary for a maximum with a horizontal bat, thereby, amazing one and all.

The man at the other end was VK himself, and the shock in his eyes was prevalent. Bhuvi ended up receiving a bow from the captain himself and therefore was the moment of the match.

Here’s the video

Bhuvi's power gets Virat's bow https://t.co/Ld8tdaJgMd #BCCI

— Meeqat Hashmi (@MeeqatHashmi) October 22, 2017