Exclusive: Mohammed Siraj's Emergence Has Limited Bhuvneshwar Kumar's Options In Test Cricket- Monty Panesar

Monty Panesar, the former English spinner, has thrown light on Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s absence from the Indian Test squad which is set to take on England in a five-match Test series from August 04 in Nottingham. Notably, Bhuvneshawr Kumar was not a part of the Indian Test squad when the squad was announced for the England tour.

This stirred up a lot of debate on social media and cricket pundits as Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been one of India’s finest swing bowlers. Considering the English conditions, he would have been the ideal swing bowler for team India who could have caused a lot of damage to the English batsmen as he did in the 2014 tour when he ended up being India’s leading wicket-taker in the series.

Monty Panesar Holds Mohammed Siraj Responsible For The Ouster Of Bhuvneshwar Kumar From The Indian Test Squad

As Bhuvneshwar wasn’t included in the Test squad for England, there were rumours of him setting aside Test cricket and focussing on his white-ball career. However, Bhuvnswar Kumar himself cleared the air that he had no such intentions and he is still ready to represent India across all three formats.

Now, former English spinner, Monty Panesar, in an exclusive chat with Cricketaddictor has said, “Bhuvneshwar has played a lot of cricket and he is the bowler who swings it and pitches it up and Ishant Sharma fulfills that role for team India.

“Because of the emergence of Mohammed Siraj, it has limited Bhuvneshwar’s options in Test cricket. At home, he might be a good option but abroad, team India have got their seamers exactly how it has to be,” Monty further added.

Bhuvneshwar’s Numbers Speak For Themselves

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been one of India’s ace pacers over the years in white-ball cricket. However, his Test statistics do show that justice hasn’t been served to him in red-ball cricket as he has played only 21 Test matches for the India National Cricket Team. One of the prime reasons behind this has been the number of domestic games played by Team India over the last 5-6 years.

However, in the limited opportunity that he has had to don the whites for team India, his numbers just go on to portray the immense talent of this swing master. In just 21 Test matches, he has picked 63 wickets at an average of 26.10 and with a career economy rate of just 2.95 runs per over.