WTC Final: Bhuvneshwar Kumar trends on Twitter after India pacers struggle to pick wickets

After starting decently on the second day in testing conditions, India lost the plot completely on the third morning. New Zealand bowlers, especially Kyle Jamieson, wrecked havoc to pick up his fifth five-wicket haul as India were skittled for 217 runs in their first innings. However, with favourable conditions on offer, the Indian pacers were also expected to reap rewards with the dukes ball.

But it wasn’t to be. The ball hardly swung for the likes of Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah while Ishant Sharma managed to swing a bit only to be ineffective. They were a tad short in their lengths and the Kiwi openers looked comfortable during their 70-run partnership in the middle. It was Ravi Ashwin who provided the much-needed breakthrough while Devon Conway threw his wicket away at the fag end of the day.

When Tom Latham and Conway were batting, the Indian fans got restless with not many runs on the board. Many were surprised to see the ball not swinging at all and they started missing their ace swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar who is a master at making the ball talk through the air and off the pitch.

Bhuvi hasn’t played Test cricket since January 2018 and one of the main reasons for the same has been his constant injury concerns. For some reason or the other, Bhuvneshwar has been on the sidelines and with India’s fast bowling pool ready which was evident on Australia tour, it seems that he could be restricted to playing only limited-overs formats.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar not picked in squad for England tour

Interestingly, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is not even in the squad for the WTC Final and the England tour. The man himself had expressed of making a comeback in the Test format after returning from injury earlier this year for the England series at home. However, it seems as if India have started to look beyond him given his consistent injury concerns.

Though he is not in England, Bhuvi was trending on Twitter on Sunday evening as India continued to struggle to break New Zealand’s opening partnership.

Here are some of the tweets:

India is badly missing Bhuvneshwar Kumar here. Bumrah, Ishant and Shami are seam bowlers and not swing,Bhuvi might not have the pace but he is effective in these conditions #WTCFinal21

— Aditya (@CAA_256) June 20, 2021

But really India is missing the services of bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak cahar and siraj would have been effective too

— JESUYAAN_JJ (@jesuyaan) June 21, 2021

@C4CRICVENKATESH why bhuvneshwar kumar did not select in indian team he is swing king at present conditions

— Uppuluri Satyadev (@UppuluriSatyad2) June 21, 2021

@RaviShastriOfc In England, neither seam bowlers nor spinners works much.

swing bowlers like BHUVNESHWAR kumar only works

This will be the reason of India's defeat in England in the ultimate test

India will MISS SWING BOWLER in ENGLAND. There should b atleast 1 swing bwler

— Alok (@Alok32844017) June 20, 2021

Q: India is badly missing …… in this match?

A: Bhuvneshwar Kumar @bhuviofficial #WTCFinal2021 #WTC21final #IndiaVsNewZealand #Bhuvi pic.twitter.com/aaCrC6whbH

— Dr. Amarendra Bhushan Dhiraj (@ceoworld) June 20, 2021

bhuvneshwar kumar ko ni leke gae….kya he politics h cricket mei b…🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

— Deepanshu Sood (@Deepanshu2609) June 20, 2021

@BhuviOfficial today our pace attack really missed one out & out swing bowler that too u.
Wish u were there and helping team india @BCCI in winning the #WTCFinal21 .#bhuvneshwarkumar @imVkohli @chetans1987 @SunilJoshi_Spin @SGanguly99 @RaviShastriOfc
@Jaspritbumrah93

— Prinkle Abani (@prinkleabani) June 20, 2021

Indian bowers failed to get the lateral movement.. missing #bhuvneshwarkumar badly here.. he can swing the ball both ways effectively.. I hope for better tomorrow 🙏

— Hemanth Kumar (@HemanthKhmar) June 20, 2021

Swing se yaad aaya
Where's Bhuvneshwar kumar ???

— Zuheeb ❤ (@iam_freakk) June 20, 2021

There seems to be 3 Paras Mhambreys playing today. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the need of the hour. Powers be that May be 🙏. #BCCI #NZvIND #WTC21

— Milesh Daru (@mpd12) June 20, 2021