Wily Bhuvneshwar comes with recalibration tricks
The 2022 version of Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been a breath of fresh air for this Indian side. He has picked 24 wickets in 18 T20Is - only behind Sandeep Lamichhane and Joshua Little - and is back to being a PowerPlay menace with 13 wickets in this phase. The forlorn, ineffective figure of last year's T20 World Cup is long gone as the white ball is moving to his tunes again. This brings us to another sultry evening in Dubai, where swing was a major absentee.
"Before bowling the first ball, I thought it was going to swing. There was no swing but there was a bit of bounce. We knew we had to bowl wicket to wicket, so bowling short was the plan," he'd admit in the innings break.
Against a side with a risk-averse strategy at the top, Bhuvneshwar used the short ball as a rabbit out of his hat. Babar Azam was getting himself into driving positions against straighter and fuller lengths, so the bouncer that arrived after a succession of pitched up deliveries had the desired effect on the Pakistan captain - the top-edge off a pull going to the short fine leg fielder. It's not a delivery Bhuvneshwar often resorts to, but the quick recalibration brought instant gratification. The conditions didn't set Bhuvneshwar up for the typical early breakthrough, but, like clockwork, it came anyway.
Deck-hitter Hardik will be a treat in Dubai... and Australia
On a tacky pitch with a bit of bounce on it, Hardik Pandya's best bowling traits shone through like the brightest star on a night of clear skies. He kept digging in at hard Test match lengths at 140 kmph, slipping in bouncers at will that earned him all three of his wickets.
Source: https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/123640/hardik-bhuvneshwar-and-indias-early-asia-cup-impressions
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