“Should Bhuvneshwar Kumar get one last game?” – Discarded India batter’s blunt claim on future after unimpressive NZ vs IND 2026 series

Discarded India batter Hanuma Vihari made a blunt claim on veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar‘s future after the T20I series against New Zealand. While the Men in Blue won the series, Bhuvneshwar failed to impress on his comeback.

The pacer missed the fourth T20I but returned to the playing XI for the final game. He failed to pick up a wicket once again and was expensive, returning figures of 0/41 from four overs. Following a poor series, Hanuma Vihari wondered whether Bhuvneshwar would be seen in India colors again.

“Should Bhuvneshwar get one last game? I don’t know. His pace is down. For some reason, he was bowling at 126-127, whereas in the IPL, he was bowling at 135. Is that rhythm not there? Or is match fitness not there? We don’t know. But he was not impressive at all. Overall, the bowling was disappointing,” he said in a video on his YouTube channel.

In four matches, Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled 16 overs and gave away 180 runs at an economy rate of 11.25 and managed to pick up just one wicket.

Hanuma Vihari highlights big concern for India

Hanuma Vihari also pointed out that the bowling was a big concern for the Men in Blue. They struggled to pick up wickets and contain runs throughout the series. He reckoned that they did not have a go-to bowler as such in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah.

“India’s bowling attack is a really big problem. There are a lot of concerns. Without Bumrah and Hardik, who is the go-to bowler? Arshdeep has improved over a period of time. But is he your go-to bowler? I know T20 cricket is changing drastically, but the bowling attack is a concern. There are questions about the bowling in white-ball cricket, and there have to be discussions about it. Who are the bowlers you will look at? That has to be discussed,” he said.

The Men in Blue will next play a T20I in December during their home series against Sri Lanka. They will host Sri Lanka for three ODIs and as many T20Is as part of the white-ball series.

Edited by Rishab Vm