Indian cricket team’s bowling star and brand ambassador of PlayerzPot, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, celebrates his 32nd birthday today. A crucial member of the Indian cricket team, Bhuvi has managed to swing his way into the hearts of Indian cricket fans ever since making his international debut in December 2012 against Pakistan. Since then, he has become a regular sight in India’s limited-overs cricket. Although he has performed brilliant across formats, it is in the ODIs that he has managed to reach his best figures.
He has played 121 ODIs and taken 141 wickets. Whereas in T20Is, he has taken 53 wickets from 55 matches and in Tests, he has taken 63 wickets in 21 encounters. It was in a T20 match that he made his Team India debut on 25th December 2012. He also made his ODI debut just five days later, on 30th December. Both of his debuts were against Pakistan. In the following year, he was also selected in the Indian Test squad and finally made his Test debut on 22nd February 2013 against South Africa.
Here are a few interesting facts about the Swing King Of India.
– Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the first Indian bowler to take five-wicket hauls in T20Is, ODIs and Tests. He achieved this feat against South Africa when he brought up his best T20I bowling figures in 2018.
– Bhuvi created quite a few waves in domestic cricket with his all-around performances. However, it was during the 2009 Ranji Trophy Final that he managed to grab the headlines. He became the first player in cricketing history to dismiss the legendary Sachin Tendulkar for a duck in first-class cricket.
– He has taken two maiden overs in T20Is. This puts him in the second position on the list of most maiden overs in the format. He shares the position with other Indian bowlers such as Harbhajan Singh and Jasprit Bumrah amongst other international bowlers.
– He was given his first vice-captaincy stint during the 2021 India tour of Sri Lanka, where he played the supporting role for captain Shikhar Dhawan.
– He has also carved his name as one of the most influential bowlers in the Indian T20 League. Having first been given a contract by the Bangalore team after his highly successful Ranji Trophy season in 2008-09, he was signed by Pune in 2011. After spending two years in that team, he was finally brought on board the Hyderabad team in 2014.
– He has played 132 matches in the Indian T20 league and has taken an incredible 142 wickets at a brilliant average of 25.27 including a five-wicket haul and two four-wicket hauls. In 2016, he also won the purple cap and emerged as the highest wicket-taker of that season.
– Bhuvi married Nupur Nagar on 23rd November 2017. Both have known each other since their childhood and Nupur is an engineer by profession. The pair was blessed with a baby girl on 24th November 2021.
– He is the first bowler in history to have taken his first wicket as bowled in all three formats of the game. His victims were Pakistan’s Nasir Jamshed and Mohammad Hafeez in T20Is and ODIs. Whereas it was Australia’s David Warner in Tests.
– After India’s successful Champions Trophy tournament in 2013, Bhuvneshwar was named in the team of the tournament for his terrific performance with the ball.
