New Delhi, Oct 15 (IANS) India’s other fast bowlers have not done enough to keep a veteran pacer like Bhuvneshwar Kumar out of the T20I side, former India opener WV Raman said on Thursday, while calling on the bowling coach to put in extra time for the development of young pacers.
Bhuvneshwar earned his India T20I recall after a gap of four years on the back of a sensational IPL 2026 campaign, where he spearheaded Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s successful title defence with a 28-wicket haul.
He finished as the second-highest wicket-taker in IPL 2026 and missed the Purple Cap to Kagiso Rabada by just a solitary scalp. Bhuvneshwar’s last appearance in international cricket came during a T20I in New Zealand in November 2022.
In 87 T20Is for India, Bhuvneshwar has bagged 90 wickets at an average of 23.10 while maintaining an impressive economy rate of 6.96. “See, on the one hand, you would obviously admire Bhuvneshwar Kumar for putting up performances and just pushing his way back into the side.
“But the other side of the coin is that it does give you a little bit to think about, isn’t it? Because here is one guy who’s deemed done and dusted for a while and then suddenly he makes a strong comeback, and that’s obviously something that you would admire. But it also goes to show that the others have not really done enough to try and keep somebody like Bhuvi out, who has not been firing regularly.
“So the other fact of the matter is that the bowlers, yes, it’s easy to say that they’ve been leaking runs, but they’ve been playing on plump batting tracks. But what I would like to see happen is that if the word transition is being used, then it is incumbent on the fast bowling coach to spend some time with the bowlers when they’re not playing cricket and try and work with them,” Raman told reporters in a select virtual interaction facilitated by Sony Sports Network on Thursday.
Raman added that India had no shortage of raw pace, but the talent needed sustained attention away from the match calendar. “It’s very critical if you’re talking about young fast bowlers who have the raw pace, who have the talent, they need to be really worked upon. That is where the bowling coach needs to spend a lot more time with the boys to ensure that they are well prepared when they get to play international cricket.
“As I can understand, there’s a lot of cricket played these days. There’s a lot of time these coaches spend on the road. But still, I think extra time needs to be spent by the fast bowling coach because you do have a lot of quick guys. There’s no doubt about that.
“But we’ve seen all of them play in rotation and then go for runs, which means that there’s something that needs to be done with them. This is where, as I said, some extra work needs to be done on these promising fast bowlers.”
Looking ahead to the two-game Test series in New Zealand, which carries crucial World Test Championship (WTC) points, Raman felt the Test team needs to learn from getting its combination wrong at home. “See, we are talking about different things altogether. In England (where India drew 2-2), if you looked at it, the pitches were different.
“It was a very, very hot summer in England. It is more or less like what they normally call an Indian summer. So there’s not much swing or seam movement, and also their attack was probably not the best. This is not taking away the credit from our batters who got runs there.
“That’s not the issue here. The fact of the matter is that in India, what happened was that we were not picking the right combination, and what happened was that we did not get the combination right. So it is perhaps something that may not be repeated, that will not be repeated because the team management has learned its lessons from that.”
With India still in the race for entering the WTC final, Raman called for the selection of a bowling attack capable of taking 20 wickets rather than a batting-heavy playing eleven. “But New Zealand, quite obviously, what I would like to see personally is that they resort to playing specialists in terms of cricket because that’s what is going to help you. I would also like to have them have a bowling attack which can get the side 20 wickets because that’s what is going to win matches.
“India has to win matches to keep their chances of playing the WTC final alive. So they need to have the bowling resources to bowl the opponents out twice. The logic here is that even if you are a few runs short, if you have enough bowling resources to bowl the opponents out, you would still have the fizz, you would still have the enthusiasm, you would still feel that you have a chance to put it past the opponent.
“So that’s the reason you need to have enough bowling resources. In case you pick a batting-heavy eleven, if you are short on bowling, then if you are a few runs short, there’s no way you can end up winning a Test match unless the conditions are extremely helpful for the bowlers that are playing in the eleven.”
Raman also felt Hardik Pandya’s absence is being sorely felt, with injuries derailing the search for another seam-bowling all-rounder. “See, the absence of Hardik Pandya is definitely hurting the team a lot because he is such a useful cricketer, and a good all-rounder like him is needed. When he is there in the setup, it gives you that extraordinary flexibility and you obviously are well stacked up. You can win your matches either way with a good spell or with kind of a cameo or even a good knock, for that matter.
“Unfortunately, we have not been able to find others even though we have been providing a lot of opportunities. It’s just that injuries are playing a major part here as well. Nitish Kumar Reddy was identified as an all-rounder; then we also looked at Washington Sundar briefly, and then we have Shivam Dube. It’s just that things are not somehow clicking.
“We have been trying and giving the opportunities to cricketers to try and work out things and emerge as all-rounders or perform in different departments of the game. But if it’s not working, nobody is to be blamed, and you can’t call anybody a failure in this. At best, you can try to use the options you have.
“Other options: if you don’t have the options, what do you do? Whatever options have been there, whoever has shown some promise of being capable of becoming multi-dimensional cricketers. They have been given the opportunities; they have been kept in the loop; they have been kept in the scheme of things.
“Maybe we have to see if the injuries somehow stop happening, and that’s something that has also been plaguing the system quite a lot, and it’s very difficult to really pinpoint where the problem is unless you are entirely aware of the total dynamics that are in place now,” he explained.
On teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi being kept on the bench despite being in the T20I squad, Raman backed the team management’s approach. “See, let’s not use terms like fast-tracking or protected. We have to try and provide a solid foundation in terms of preparation, and get him ready so that once he gets in, there is no turning back. That’s something that we have to try and do for a young cricketer.
“That’s the best way to try and encourage a young talented cricketer. As far as Vaibhav is concerned, yes, there are a lot of people who want to see him play. Everybody wants to see him play. There’s no doubt about it. But again, if the idea is to keep him in the squad for him to fast-track his learning, then I think they’re doing the right thing.
“If they’re doing that and if there’s a purpose behind it, I’m sure there will be; I think that’s the best thing they can do for him. Keep him there about six to nine months and then let him loose, and there’s hopefully no turning back for that young man.”
Raman, who also served as India’s former women’s head coach, also weighed in on Smriti Mandhana taking over as the all-format captain of the women’s team from Harmanpreet Kaur, with her reign set to begin from the T20Is against Zimbabwe in Raipur on Friday.
“It’s very difficult to say what is the right time for somebody to take up captaincy. Let’s not forget that Harmanpreet Kaur has done well as a captain. She has created history by winning the World Cup, and maybe people started debating about her continuing as captain after the ordinary campaign in the T20 World Cup.
“These things keep happening in cricket. Let’s not forget even Kapil Dev when he created history in 1983 by winning the World Cup; he was stripped of his captaincy six months later. So it’s all a question of how situations are.
“But here we obviously have to realise that Harmanpreet Kaur has been around for a while. She’s done extraordinarily well as a captain, and it was getting a little difficult because there was some talk about whether Smriti ever led India or whether Harmanpreet continues.
“But now that we’ve seen the transition or the change happen, we have to obviously hope that the Indian team will go from strength to strength a year on because Harmanpreet has handed over a good side which is playing aggressively, and confidently, and the biggest challenge for Smriti Mandhana will be to try and not only sustain that aggression and the fearlessness, but also raise the bar with each passing season.”
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–IANS
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