New Delhi: Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar says playing for IPL side Sunrisers Hyderabad has been a turning point in his career as he learnt to handle the pressure of bowling at the death.
India’s fierce pack attack is now one of the best in the world and Bhuvneshwar is a key figure in the set-up along with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav.
Bhuvneshwar said he always had the ability to bowl yorkers but delivering in crunch moments is something that he learnt after joining the Sunrisers squad back in 2014.
“I always had the ability to bowl yorkers but then I lost it. At Sunrisers Hyderabad, they wanted me to bowl at the start of the innings as well as at the end. The 14 matches I played in 2014, I learnt to handle pressure and that was a turning point,” Bhuvneshwar told Deep Das Gupta on Cricketbaazi show.
“I learnt new things, especially handling pressure at death bowling (during Sunrisers stint),” he said.
Bhuvneshwar, who has taken 132 ODI and 63 Test wickets, said he has been most successful whenever he has managed to detach himself from the outcome of the games like former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
“Like MS Dhoni, I try to detach myself from the result and focus on small things, which I also refer to as process. And this helps in getting the desired outcome.
“During IPL when I had a couple of good seasons, I was in this zone. I was so focused on my process, that the result had become secondary. And results were positive.”
Talking about how is he keeping himself motivated while being away from the game due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bhuvneshwar said it hasn’t been easy.
“I was very motivated for the first 15 days of the lockdown. No one knew how long it would last and I didn’t have any equipment to exercise at home either. We thought things would get better in a couple of months,” he said.
“But after 15 days, I started finding it difficult to motivate myself. I then ordered equipment at home and things have improved since…I am working on coming out of this lockdown as a better version of myself.
“On-field performance is different, but I can work on my fitness, or my athletic ability, or gaining more strength,” he added. (agencies)
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SPO-CRI-FINCH
Finch keeping himself busy with planning for 2023 World Cup in India
Melbourne, Jun 26:
He has not been in the middle since March but that has not stopped Australia’s limited-overs captain Aaron Finch from constantly thinking about the game, so much so that he is already plotting a title bid for the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.
The T20 World Cup in Australia later this year looks unlikely due to the COVID-19 pandemic while India have the rights for the 2021 edition.
India also host the 50-over showpiece event in 2023 and Finch feels it is time zero in on a pool for sub-continental conditions.
“I’m a cricket nuffy so you are always thinking about it, especially being captain and with what’s coming up with the T20 World Cup, whenever that might be, and there’s a couple of them and looking forward to the 2023 50-over World Cup in India,” Finch told SEN Radio.
“We are just in the processing of nutting out how we go about winning that, what we’ll need to do down the track to be successful in those three tournaments.”
On the 2023 event in India, he said: “In the 50-over space it’s about working back from that 2023 World Cup and really getting a detailed plan of how we think we’ll have to win it, what’s the structure of the side we’ll need in India.
“Is it going to be two spinners, is it going to be an extra all-rounder, and kind of work back from there.”
Australia are the most successful ODI team with five world titles to their credit with the last one coming at home in 2015. In 2019, they lost to England in the semifinals.
“If there’s someone new we identify who could perhaps have a big impact… Make sure they have enough experience so in a high-pressure semi-final you aren’t going in hoping they’ll do well, you know they have the form and enough experience behind them to make sure they are comfortable with international level.
“It’s not rocket science, it’s going through data, a bit of gut instinct of what you feel will be the trends of one-day cricket. Will it be 400, or will it be that 320-mark with some wearing pitches in India and a couple of spinners in your side?” he wondered. (agencies)
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