Truth be told, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is among the finest and most consistent performers with the cricket ball in the post Zaheer Khan era for Team India. There was a time where he was the go to wicket taker for Team India after the pomp of Zaheer Khan and among the most regular strike bowlers that the team looked up to the same way it did when it came to the likes of Ashish Nehra (last played in 2011). With his incredible ability to swing the ball and bring it into the batters, from the onset of 2012 until 2022, Kumar could swing and make the ball talk.

He was often a dismay to batters for his incredible ability to challenge their run scoring abilities and for keeping the scoring rates quiet. God knows, how desperately the fan wants to see among the most quality and humble performers of the cricket ball for India back amid the team, wearing once again that Jersey with much glee and pride!  

And truth be told, if all goes well, then one could very well see Kumar back in action and in the hunt for wickets, one too many as part of India’s plans for the fast approaching ODI men’s cricket World Cup, the fifty over epic tournament that is slated for the second half of 2027!

Rather interestingly, B. Kumar was seen most recently by all those concerned with Indian cricket, whether the fan or the game’s administrators in the 2026 edition the Tata Indian Premier League wherein he picked no fewer than 28 wickets. That’s no too bad for someone who is already 36, hence no spring chicken where it comes to his playing career. But now the bigger question is what roadmap can be possibly prepared in order to get Kumar back into the practice and hunt for making it back to the Indian dressing room.

Ashwin’s take on Kumar

Apparently, someone who’s played alongside the UP born cricketer and who vouches for his talent having been a first hand witness of his sheer skill and talent has an idea and that’s Ravichandran Ashwin. Here’s what the former Indian cricketer, an off spin great, had to say about Kumar’s possible roadmap to get back into the Indian side ahead of the World Cup:

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a yes. I would communicate to him. Get him to play all the tournaments, first-class, Vijay Hazare, everything & get him prime going to South Africa. I think we will need him there"

What next? 

He has 141 wickets in the fifty over format as an international cricketer for India in fifty over cricket and that’s from just 121 games. The big question is if and when supported, just how many can he add to his glowing wicket tally?