Bhuvneshwar Kumar: The boy with the golden arm: Indian Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar made the ball talk on Day 1 of second Test against Australia

[NareshK]

B Kumar seems to get the ball to swing in the air and also off the pitch in helpful conditions. Pak batsmen struggled to lay bat on ball against him in 1st and 3rd ODIs in his first series. He also did well against England in ODIs on flat tracks and got wickets of Cook and KP and now 3 wickets against Aussies in a test match on a dead pitch for fast bowlers. I think he will do well when conditions are good for seamers.

[jusarrived]

128-135K is enough pace for some one who can swing and use the seam . More importantly he seems like a thinking bowler . Stop saying that he isnt test class already .

[Vilander]

He will become like philander once he plays overseas.

:antijinx:

[Vilander]

It is too early to hype him.He is a one dimensional bowler.He should be used as a bowling allrounder who will bowl after Yadav' date=Aoron,Shami in SA.

yadav and aaron are planning to focus on line and length after they come back from injury and not worry about pace.

[Muloghonto]

Tanvir ahmed >>>>>>bk

:haha::haha::haha:

[panther]

:haha::haha::haha:

May I remind you of his spell in abu dhabi against sa 6-120.

[Muloghonto]

Bhuvi will be effective in South Africa, England and New Zealand. Given that they are our next three overseas tours, Bhuvi needs the experience at home. he needs to get over the jitters of a debutant, gain some confidence by bowling tight & keeping things tight, since on these pitches, any wickets against overseas batsmen are a bonus for a swing bowler. IMO, Bhuvi has what it takes to succeed in the abovementioned countries. he wont do too well in Australia or West Indies ( those are more the Ishant-Umesh type of wickets, where bowling fast and banging it on good length will get you results) but one step at a time. Also, Bhuvi will do good against South Africa, England and New Zealand. They all have 1 leftie in their top six and Bhuvi will do well against righties in swinging conditions. While Bhuvi does not have a big outswinger that will bug lefties, he does have a banana-inswinger that righties are troubled by, along with the fact that his outswinger more or less 'straightens after pitching/holds its line' means the righties will struggle to leave Bhuvi's deliveries alone if he bowls the right line.

[Muloghonto]

May I remind you of his spell in abu dhabi against sa 6-120.

yes. Every dog has its day. Even Mohammed Sami had a few good spells. but to anyone who actually watches cricket, can see that comparing Tanvir and Bhuvi, at this stage, Bhuvi is clearly ahead.

[panther]

yes. Every dog has its day. Even Mohammed Sami had a few good spells. but to anyone who actually watches cricket' date=' can see that comparing Tanvir and Bhuvi, at this stage, Bhuvi is clearly ahead.[/quote'] Lol tanvir ahmed is I guess 34 and is past his use by date but I don't see anything about bk which is better then the 32yr old tanvir ahmed who took 6-120 against sa.

[Muloghonto]

Lol tanvir ahmed is I guess 34 and is past his use by date but I don't see anything about bk which is better then the 32yr old tanvir ahmed who took 6-120 against sa.

Bhuvi is far more intelligent a bowler and uses the set-up far better than Tanvir ever did. he also swings the ball more than Tanvir does. Tanvir also never played as a pace spearhead, he operated with two more experienced pacers ( Gul and Sami), thus not being earmarked for 'play him off' during his good spells. Plus, i only rate debutant performances so well- its easy to be the 'unknown factor' that blazes a trail of glory in the debut conditions, instead of succeeding when the opposition has earmarked you as a 'threat' and has a plan for you.

[vvvslaxman]

If a spinner (Ashwin or Ojha) does brilliantly, Saffers can be wrapped up for low scores. With seamers of our quality, even if we pick up few quick wickets, one or the other batsman will dig in for a big score. If spinners bowl like we did against England, a whitewash is pretty much a given.

Don't be surprised if Peterson or Philander make a century in case of a collapse by SA.

[vvvslaxman]

Outswing bowlers are very effective in SA. Sreesanth is hopeless nowadays. Alternative outswing bowler is Balaji who is hopeless as well. Ishant was selected out of nowhere for SA i think. Similarly they should take a gamble on Sandeep sharma who can be effective in helpful conditions.

[Old guy]

Outswing bowlers are very effective in SA. Sreesanth is hopeless nowadays. Alternative outswing bowler is Balaji who is hopeless as well. Ishant was selected out of nowhere for SA i think. Similarly they should take a gamble on Sandeep sharma who can be effective in helpful conditions.

Pandey and shami have gr8 out swingers... And seriously balaji? :hysterical:

[philcric]

Bhuvi will be effective in South Africa, England and New Zealand. Given that they are our next three overseas tours, Bhuvi needs the experience at home. he needs to get over the jitters of a debutant, gain some confidence by bowling tight & keeping things tight, since on these pitches, any wickets against overseas batsmen are a bonus for a swing bowler. IMO, Bhuvi has what it takes to succeed in the abovementioned countries. he wont do too well in Australia or West Indies ( those are more the Ishant-Umesh type of wickets, where bowling fast and banging it on good length will get you results) but one step at a time. Also, Bhuvi will do good against South Africa, England and New Zealand. They all have 1 leftie in their top six and Bhuvi will do well against righties in swinging conditions. While Bhuvi does not have a big outswinger that will bug lefties, he does have a banana-inswinger that righties are troubled by, along with the fact that his outswinger more or less 'straightens after pitching/holds its line' means the righties will struggle to leave Bhuvi's deliveries alone if he bowls the right line.

I felt the same after watching Bhuvi bowl in his first few matches. That he could do well in SA, Eng and NZ. A fit Zak, Umesh, Bhuvi will be a decent combo in seaming conditions.

[Crookbond]

Err' date=' how does that make a difference in what we are discussing? You mentioned that low bounce makes it easier for batsmen to hit out. On the contrary, on true pitches, when ball keeps low and skids through batsmen generally play a false shot. [b']As the PK ball's to Ponting prove, even the best pullers get decieved when ball keeps low

Which balls are you talking about? CB series 2008? If so, that wasn't the case.

[Muloghonto]

I felt the same after watching Bhuvi bowl in his first few matches. That he could do well in SA, Eng and NZ. A fit Zak, Umesh, Bhuvi will be a decent combo in seaming conditions.

Indeed. Zaheer IMO still has some valuable contributions to play,particularly overseas. IMO Umesh-Bhuvi-Zaheer seem to be a very good/potent pace combo overseas. They all bring something different and complement each other : Umesh has raw pace & bounce, Bhuvi has his swings and Zaheer has by far the best old-ball ability amongst Indian pacers today. Not only would Zaheer be valuable with the old ball, it would be good for Bhuvi's development as a swing bowler if Zaheer stayed in the picture.

[saneindian]

Zaheer Khan coming back looks to be nearly impossible. Has had far too many injuries for his age in the last 2-3 months. There is no way we can go back to him that too when the next test series is 8 months away.

[Muloghonto]

Zaheer Khan coming back looks to be nearly impossible. Has had far too many injuries for his age in the last 2-3 months. There is no way we can go back to him that too when the next test series is 8 months away.

That is precisely the point- Zaheer has 8 months to prove his fitness. I think we have a 'Craig McDermott' situation with Zaheer- he cannot finish an entire series anymore,atleast i dont think so but he can play the 2 tests in a row/3 outta 4 situations still. The man's only 34, his injuries seem to be not a 'degenerative same injury' like Walsh's knees, Akram's groin, etc. He can still show up and play 50-60% of the tests over the next 2-3 years and overseas that would be quite valuable. Just remember one thing- till Zaheer got injured, India-England seemed like a contest made in heaven in England. So we cannot just write him off permanently, injury or no injury.

[saneindian]

Given his track record, every injury break means a few extra kilos and some more decline in his bowling when he comes back. He will be 35+ when we play SA. None of our pacers have lasted beyond that age including a vastly fit Kapil Dev . Difficult to see Zaheer reversing the trend.

[Muloghonto]

Kapil had a degenerative knee condition though. Your point about Zaheer is well taken but IMO, he doesnt deserve to get dropped if he is fit and performing and he has 8 months to prove it so. He will pick up niggles here and there, will struggle to be fit for long stretches but i don't think he is done yet, simply because Zaheer hasn't had a recurring injury problem throughout his career- its not like this is the 5th time he is out for his groin or the millionth time his knee quit on him, etc. He is getting older & stiffer. But he still is the smartest bowler with the best control in India and he gets to play as long as we see this isnt the case anymore.