Fit Again Bhuvneshwar Kumar Added To India A Squad For Quadrangular Series

India pace spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar has regained full fitness, the BCCI confirmed on Monday (August 27). As a result, the pacer has been added to India A squad for the Quadrangular series which involves India A, India B, Australia A and South Africa A being played in Bengaluru and Alur.

Bhuvneshwar had missed the third Twenty20 International against England as well as the first two One-day Internationals. He managed to play the third game at Headingley but ended up aggravating the back injury.

As a result, the selectors of Team India did not name him in the 18-man squad for the first three Tests announced against England. At the time of announcing the squad for the first three Tests, the BCCI had said that he could be available for the last two games.

The pacer then returned to India to recuperate from the injury. He was undergoing intense rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru since returning to India. The selectors were to take a call on his availability after an assessment on his fitness.

However, he failed to recover in time and could not make it to the squad. But in order to give him enough match-practise, the selectors have named him in the India A squad.

The BCCI confirmed the news on Twitter, writing:

“Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been declared fit & will be a part of the India A squad in the ongoing Quadrangular series. He will feature in the side’s next fixture against South Africa A.”

Bhuvneshwar is likely to return to action for India in the upcoming Asia Cup which will start on 15th of next month.

Meanwhile, coming to the Quadrangular series, India A are languishing at the bottom after winning just 1 of their first 5 games. India B leads the table with 2 wins. As a result, India A has failed to make it to the final.

Thus, Bhuvneshwar will play just one game when India A take on South Africa A in the third-place playoff on Wednesday (August 29).

India A squad:

Shreyas Iyer(c), Prithvi Shaw, Ravikumar Samarth, Suryakumar Yadav, Hanuma Vihari, Nitish Rana, Sanju Samson, Mayank Markande, Krishnappa Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj, Shivam Mavi, K Khaleel Ahmed, Ambati Rayudu, Bhuvneshwar Kumar