Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the veteran seamer, has been added to the India squad for the 5th T20I of the ongoing five-match series against West Indies. The move comes after Arshdeep Singh suffered a blow to his left shoulder while batting during the 4th T20I in Hyderabad. Arshdeep retired hurt after facing one more delivery as West Indies won the game and levelled the series 2-2.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India hasn’t mentioned whether Bhuvneshwar’s inclusion is merely precautionary in nature, since Arshdeep is still a part of the squad. The board has mentioned in the release that Arshdeep’s participation in the final game of the series will be ‘based on his recovery’.
Nonetheless, Bhuvneshwar, who has been out of favour with the national selectors for the last four years, has returned to the side following two impressive IPL-winning campaigns with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He was also picked in India’s T20 squad for the upcoming tour of New Zealand beginning October 22.
His last appearance for the national team came in November 2022, against New Zealand in Napier. In all likelihood, the 36-year-old seamer could be in contention for the fifth T20I, which is set to be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on October 17.
India’s updated T20I squad: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Naman Dhir, Bhuvneshwar Kumar