'If Bhuvneshwar Kumar is listening...' - India's T20 WC medallist shares his two cents for out-of-form pacer

Since the Super Four round in the Asia Cup, India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar's form has seen a dip. The speedster went for plenty in the death overs versus Pakistan and Sri Lanka before rediscovering some form in the inconsequential tie versus Afghanistan, where he finished his full quota of overs before the end of the halfway mark.

In India's Super Four clash versus Pakistan, Bhuvi leaked 19 runs after Rohit Sharma & Co. posted 181-7after being asked to bat first. On the other hand, he failed to contain the run-flow in Men in Blue's next encounter, versus eventual winners Sri Lanka, as the 32-year-old conceded 14 runs while once again being entrusted to bowl the penultimate over during the opposition's run-chase. Thus, Bhuvi's flop shows at the death overs contributed in India's twin defeats.

Durnig the series opener of the three T20Is versus Australia, which ended on Sunday (Septemebr 25), Bhuvi conceded 16 runs in Aussies' run-chase of 209 in Mohali. Even in the series finale, the pacer went for 21 runs in the 18th over of Australia's innings when they were asked to bat first. Thus, the king of swing's form remains a cause of concern for India heading into the T20 World Cup, to be held in Australia from October-November. India's T20 World Cup medallist S Sreesanth has now shared some words of advice for Bhuvi, while interacting with Hindustan Times on the sidelines of Delhi leg of the ongoing 'Legends League Cricket'.

“He has done up good batsmen. Even if you bowl good balls, there are 60-70% chances of being hit. Sometimes, it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. We have to support Bhuvneshwar Kumar, just like (we have to support) Dinesh Karthik when it comes to batting. I’m very confident about his experience and ability to swing the ball; he has a back-of-the-length slower ball, he has got the knuckle ball. If he varies his pace on the hard bouncy wickets, he will get good help on Australian pitches,” Sreesanth said.

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“If Bhuvneshwar Kumar is listening to this – most often they don’t do it – but my only request is to never ever stop believing in your abilities. Sometimes, you really stop believing in your abilities. Sometimes, you get confused. Sometimes, you read a lot, and watch a lot of videos. Sometimes, you listen to a lot of opinions on the commentary. Even I have done that; everyone goes through that phase. But you got to believe in the immense ability that has got you here and made you the king. You got to believe in the higher power and trust your work ethics," revealed Sreesanth, who was part of the MS Dhoni-led victorious Indian team who lifted the 2007 T20 WC in South Africa.

Sreesanth further backed Bhuvi and lauded him for his work ethics. “Bhuvneshwar’s work ethics are superb. When he was at the Vijay Hazare, he was at the gym, he was at the pool. He wanted to do more and more. It’s great to see that even now, he works hard. See, everyone is talking about the 19th over, but I’m telling you, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is going to do extremely well in Australia,” concluded the former pacer.