Reports: Bhuvneshwar Kumar doubtful for the ODI series against West Indies due to injury

India completed their seventh consecutive International series win against the West Indies after consigning them to absolute hammering in the series decider of the three-match Twenty20 International series in Mumbai. And, now the caravan of the West Indies tour of India will move to the three-match ODI series. But before the Men in Blue could well be in for a bodyblow after may lose the services of ace-fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar after the right-armer complained of pain during the recently concluded series.

According to a report published in the Mumbai Mirror, Bhuvneshwar complained of pain after Team India’s 67-run-win over the defending champions at the Wankhede Stadium. No official announcement has been made by the team management or the Board of Control for Cricket in India [BCCI], but given the fast bowlers’ recent record with injury and the magnanimity of the upcoming season, Team India will not take any risk with their premier white-ball fast bowler.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been grappling with injuries for some time now

Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s penchant with injuries has been the story of his career in the past 18-20 months. The right-handed seam-and-swing bowler, who hasn’t played a Test match since the 2018 tour of South Africa- where he was India’s Player of the Series- missed the five-match rubber in England last and the succeeding Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia due to back issues.

During the 2019 50-over World Cup, Bhuvi suffered a hamstring injury during Team India’s high-voltage encounter against arch-rivals Pakistan, and even though he made through the tournament, the right-handed bowler from Meerut, missed the T20I series against South Africa and Bangladesh as he continued to recover from injury. So-much-so that the BCCI had asked the National Cricket Academy as to why it was taking so much time for Bhuvneshwar to recover.

Bhuvneshwar did make his comeback in the recently concluded series against West Indies where after looking off-colour in the first two games, the bowler came back brilliantly in the series decider. While there is no official confirmation about the injury status, it remains to be as to who the team-management names as a replacement for Bhuvneshwar. Meanwhile, the first ODI of the three-match series will take place in Chennai on December 15th.

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