NEW DELHI : More than four-and-a-half years after his last ODI appearance for India and nearly three years since playing a List A match, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has received backing from Ravichandran Ashwin for a return to the one-day setup. The spin bowling great believes India will need the experienced pacer on South African pitches, where the next ODI World Cup will be held in 2027.
The 2027 ODI World Cup will be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. The ICC recently announced the 12 cities that will host the 54 matches during the tournament.
Johannesburg, Centurion, Durban, Gqeberha, KuGompo City, Cape Town, Paarl, Bloemfontein, Harare, Bulawayo, Victoria Falls, and Windhoek will stage matches, with the majority of games set to be played in South Africa, where conditions have traditionally favoured fast bowlers.
Bhuvneshwar has slipped down the pecking order in recent years, with his last ODI appearance coming in January 2022, coincidentally in South Africa. The right-arm pacer made an instant impact on his ODI debut against Pakistan in 2012, taking a wicket off his first delivery. Since then, he has claimed 141 wickets in 121 matches at an average of 35.11.
While discussing the potential Indian squad for the 2027 World Cup on Cricinfo, Ashwin backed several players and suggested that Bhuvneshwar should also remain part of the team’s plans.
“He (Bhuvneshwar) is a yes. I would communicate with him and get him to play all first-class tournaments, the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and everything. And get him (in) prime (condition) going to South Africa, I think we’ll need him,” Ashwin said on Cricinfo.
Ashwin backed the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, and Mohammed Siraj, while ruling out the chances of Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, among others.
Bhuvneshwar may no longer be on the national selectors’ radar, but he continues to feature in the IPL. He recently represented Royal Challengers Bengaluru and was a key member of their successful title defence earlier this year.
