Bhuvneshwar Kumar reflects on swing bowling mastery, 2008 Ranji final memory

For those who covered the 2008 Ranji Trophy final at Uppal Stadium, the moment when Bhuvneshwar Kumar, playing for UP against Mumbai, dismissed cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar for a duck remains unforgettable and a sight to behold.

Hyderabad: One of the death overs specialists in T-20 cricket, Bhuvneshwar Kumar of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, says that the ability to swing the ball comes to him naturally and that no one taught him the art.

Interestingly, for all those who covered the 2008 Ranji Trophy final at Uppal Stadium here, the way Bhuvneshwar, playing for UP against Mumbai in that match, dismissed legend Sachin Tendulkar for a duck, it was a sight to behold.

“Generally, it is said that if it is destined to happen then it will happen. I got the wicket of Sachin. There was an inside edge and the catch went to the fielder who was just behind the short-leg position –
it isn’t even a proper fielding position probably, but the fielder was there and the ball went to his hand,” a visibly happy Bhuvneshwar recalled.

The swing merchant believes that the fast bowling revolution in India came after the 2011 World Cup and it was also the transition phase for the Indian team with some of the seniors retiring. “Credit goes to
Virat Kohli for after he took over Indian Test team captaincy, all this transformation happened,” he said during an interaction on RCB’s’ Play Bold’ podcast.

Reflecting on Jasprit Bumrah, the RCB star performer said when the former came on the scene, he only added to the bowling unit. “If you look at the bowlers, Ishant is tall and he gets bounce, Umesh is
generally fast and with Shami, his seam bowling is very special. That was a team and it is a team game. Everyone’s uniqueness makes the team special,” he said.

On death bowling, Bhuvneshwar said it was like an instinct, depending on the given situation and the kind of thinking at that time. “A lot of times you do it differently on the ground from what is planned in
team meetings because that instinct kicks in,” he said.

“We three of us at RCB (Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood and himself) are the same but different as well. The three of us can swing it. And, then if you look at Josh, he has the height, and Yash is a left-arm
pacer, which helps create a different angle altogether. And the best part is that all three of us can bowl at any stage of the game, and we have done it as well. These qualities help complement each other a lot,” Bhuvneshwar said, reminding that he is happy to be back with RCB after 16 years, more experienced.

“No personal goals, I want to give my best in the tournament in progress. Not thinking about getting back into the Indian team or not. Whatever comes my way, I will accept it,” one of the IPL legends
concluded.

On his career, Bhuvneshwar said that at some point one had to be satisfied as to what he had done and achieved in his career. “All I can say is that I have no regrets,” he added.