England vs India: Injury troubles of Virat Kohli and his men

Bhuvneshwar Kumar: Back Injury

Prior to the start of the series, Sachin Tendulkar had declared India’s attack the best they ever have had as there’s no dearth of variety in the bowling department. However, soon India’s so-called best bowling line-up got disintegrated as both Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah were declared unfit for the first couple of Tests. Bhuvneshwar’s injury was, without an iota of doubt, the result of his heavy workload and mismanagement.

According to reports, the UP speedster had first experienced pain in his back during the IPL but continued to play for his franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad. Instead of opting for rest, Bhuvneshwar further aggravated the injury by playing during the latter stages of the T20 event. Bhuvneshwar went to England without being fully fit and his injury worsened when he played the third ODI, which India lost to lose the ODI series.

Realizing that Bhuvneshwar’s injury had worsened the team management decided to send him back home. Since then he has regained full fitness, but Bhuvneshwar’s untimely exit from the squad in England probably cost India a victory in the first Test. Bhuvneshwar’s services were particularly missed when Sam Curran was playing the vital knock in Birmingham that ultimately proved to be the main difference between the two sides.

Not only Kohli missed Bhuvneshwar’s swing and Yorkers, but his batting prowess as well. In a low-scoring game, someone with a good technique, who could graft with the bat would have been a definite game-changer, especially when Virat was batting on the other side of the pitch. If Bhuvneshwar was there, the result could have been different.