File photo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rohit Sharma© AFP
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt feels veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar won’t be a good option for Team India in the T20 World Cup. Bhuvneshwar picked 11 wickets in the ongoing Asia Cup, but leaked a lot of runs in the death overs. He bagged a five-for in India’s final game of the Super 4 stage against Afghanistan on Thursday. While suggesting that Bhuvneshwar is an excellent new-ball bowler, Butt feels that the Bhuvneshwar lacks pace, which makes it easier for the batters to target him in the death.
“He is conceding a lot of runs in the death but taking wickets in the initial overs. The bowl is slightly swinging here (in UAE). But good teams will negate this much swing easily. The bowling wasn’t that difficult. Afghanistan batters hit through the lines, and most of them are power hitters. They don’t have proper technique and that’s why couldn’t negate the swing. Bhuvneshwar struggles with pace in death overs. He doesn’t have pace and that’s why batters are not afraid of taking him on. I don’t think he will be a good option for India at the T20 World Cup,” Butt said during a discussion on his YouTube channel.
Notably, India failed to qualify for the final of the Asia Cup after a disappointing performance in the Super 4 stage.
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India defeated Afghanistan by 101 runs in their final Super 4 game on Thursday.
Virat Kohli ended his century drought, smashing an unbeaten 122 off 61 balls. After posting a total of 212/2 in 20 overs, India restricted Afghanistan to a total of 111 for eight.
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