Former Indian cricketer Ambati Rayudu hailed Bhuvneshwar Kumar, calling him sort of an artist after the veteran delivered a match-winning performance in Indian Premier League. The 36-year-old put on a show to guide Royal Challengers Bengaluru to victory over Mumbai Indians in Raipur.
Bhuvneshwar first starred with the ball, claiming a brilliant four-wicket haul to restrict MI. Later, during the tense chase, RCB needed nine runs from the final three deliveries. Bhuvneshwar kept his composure and smashed a sensational six off a yorker over the off-side field to bring his side within touching distance of victory before sealing the win off the final ball.
“I think it’s just his ability and especially on a pitch like that where most of the balls would hit the stumps [that] he is even more lethal. Generally, when a batsman gets beaten on a bouncy track, [the ball misses the stumps], but on these sort of pitches, he would more or less get you out lbw or caught behind,” said Rayudu as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
“Today, we have seen a beautiful slower ball against Rohit [Sharma] as well his lucky ball, which always swings away. He has a lot of control over it. He’s becoming sort of an artist now. He’s just becoming so, so good at what he’s doing,” he added.
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Bhuvneshwar returned with impressive figures of 4/23, taking his tally to 21 wickets and moving to the top of the Purple Cap standings in the IPL. The veteran pacer dismissed Ryan Rickelton, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Tilak Varma during his brilliant spell. Former Indian cricketer Deep Dasgupta said Bhuvneshwar’s success has come from the way he has been releasing the ball, comparing it to the rhythm and control he displayed during his peak years while playing regularly for India.
“The skill set was always there. It’s just that, at times, because he’s never been the quickest, it’s just that release at times [that’s made him] lose some pace off the pitch. I think he’s [got it] back again. [Against MI] he was really good with his release. That backspin on the ball – I think he’s got that back,” said Dasgupta.
“And that’s something I’ve actually tried to look at: how we can see the release. But it’s difficult to see it [on TV], but you can feel it looking at the batters playing at it, and kind of hurrying [into their shots] even at 133-134kph. He’s hurrying the batters. The batters’ are a little late playing at him. So that just tells you that he’s got that release back,” he added.
