Bhuvneshwar Kumar's International Career Over? Aakash Chopra Feels "It's Not Looking Good"

The squads for India‘s upcoming series against South Africa were recently announced. Team India will visit South Africa this month for a multi-format series. They are scheduled to play three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests against the Proteas.

There were not too many surprises in the squads. Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been rested for the white-ball series but will play the Test series. With Hardik Pandya sidelined due to an ankle injury, KL Rahul will lead the ODI side while Suryakumar Yadav will lead the T20I side. However, former India batter Aakash Chopra believes Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a notable omission from the squad.

The former cricketer-turned-commentator stated that not getting picked up for South Africa is not a piece of good news for the veteran pacer. One of the most experienced bowlers in T20s in the country, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has not played any international game since November last year when India toured New Zealand for a T20I series.

“I and you won’t decide his career because we are not the selectors, and who are we to say whether it’s over or a long career is left? It’s not looking good in the current scenario. It seems like a roadblock has come,” Aakash Chopra, former Indian cricket team opener, said on his YouTube channel.

“You are not getting opportunities. You had a decent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and a decent IPL as well but you are not getting picked anywhere. It was decided long back that they won’t pick him in ODIs but now they are not picking him for T20Is also.”

Aakash Chopra fears the worst for Bhuvneshwar Kumar:

Speaking further, Aakash Chopra said that the selectors might have decided to move on from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and try out other youngsters. He also had a word of praise for India’s bench strength as the team management has a number of handy options to try out.

“So it seems like the selectors have started looking in other directions and there are options. It is actually a praiseworthy thing about Indian cricket that you always have so many options available that you say you can go with someone else,” said Aakash Chopra.

“So Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Deepak Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, and then you forget Umran Malik, whom you played matches four months ago. So this is the reality of Indian cricket. So for Bhuvi, you get the drift,” he added.

Meanwhile, the T20I series will kickstart India’s tour of South Africa. The three-match series is scheduled to get underway on December 10.