Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah in India’s World Cup plans? Ashwin weighs in

Former Indian ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin hopes for a dream pairing of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah at the 2027 ODI World Cup. Ashwin said that if Bhuvneshwar impresses all on his return to the T20I side after nearly four years, he could well be on that flight to Africa, bowling the first over for India. Social media began buzzing with nostalgia after the Pragyan Ojha-led selection committee picked up the 36-year-old seamer for five T20Is against New Zealand, starting October 22.

South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia will co-host the 50-over World Cup, which starts on October 2, 2027.

“He is going to New Zealand now. I am telling you, if he does well, everyone will immediately say, just take him for the ODI team as well. The selectors will be watching very closely.

“If he swings the ball and shows decent fitness, nobody can stop Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar from sitting together on that flight to the World Cup, with Bhuvneshwar bowling the first ball of the World Cup,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

Reflecting on Bhuvneshwar’s skillset and multi-format capability, Ashwin added that injuries alone hindered the Meerut pacer from reaching even greater heights for the national side.

“I am very excited and happy for Bhuvneshwar Kumar because he is a very unassuming guy. And yes, I am once again putting my neck on the line to say this: if he had worked a little harder, if the timing had been right and if he had avoided those injuries, with the skill set he possesses, he could have been a king for India across all formats,” Ashwin said.

“Do you want swing? He has swing. If you want it to move one way, he can do that. If you want it to move both ways, he can do that too. And then he has decent pace,” he added.

India Squad for New Zealand T20Is –

Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav