Bhuvneshwar Kumar Back After Four Years
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is finally back in the Indian team after four years. At 36, the veteran pacer has earned a place in India’s T20I squad for the New Zealand tour, giving him another chance to play international cricket after what looked like a long end career.
Bhuvneshwar last played for India in November 2022, against New Zealand in Napier. Since then, his name slowly disappeared from the national setup.
His last ODI came in January 2022, while his last Test appearance was way back in 2018. For a fast bowler, four years away from international cricket usually means the end of the carrier.
Swing King had a big IPL 2026, picking up 28 wickets and finishing just one wicket behind Kagiso Rabada in the Purple Cap race.
He has also been part of IPL winning campaigns in 2025 and 2026. His performances kept his name in the discussion, and India have now decided to give him another opportunity.
The comeback also comes at an interesting time for Indian cricket. India are already looking ahead to the 2027 ODI World Cup, and there are questions around the balance of the bowling attack.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar‘s ability to move the new ball and bowl with control could give India another option.
Despite, getting back into the ODI team will not be easy. The biggest question is his body. Bhuvneshwar has not played a List A game since 2023, and 50 over cricket demands a different workload compared to T20s.
The New Zealand tour could therefore be an important test of where he stands physically. Bhuvneshwar himself has not hidden his desire to play another World Cup.
He recently said that he is training and feels his body is ready. He also admitted that he wished he had brought a trainer and physio into his setup much earlier in his career.
What makes this comeback even more special is how far away Bhuvneshwar looked from India just a few years ago.
He had stopped thinking too much about a comeback, but he never stopped believing that he could still play for the country.
India T20I squad for New Zealand tour
Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (WK), Tilak Varma (VC), Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav.
India A squad for New Zealand tour
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Smaran, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (C/WK), Washington Sundar, Auqib Nabi, Akash Deep, Anshul Kamboj, Manav Suthar, Mukesh Choudhary, Sai Sudarsan, Yash Rathod and Mukesh Kumar.
India vs New Zealand 2026: Full schedule.
T20I series:
1st T20I – October 22, Christchurch
2nd T20I – October 24, Christchurch
3rd T20I – October 27, Wellington
4th T20I – October 30, Auckland
5th T20I – November 1, Hamilton
ODI series:
1st ODI -November 4, Mount Maunganui
2nd ODI – November 7, Wellington
3rd ODI – November 10, Hamilton
4th ODI – November 13, Mount Maunganui
5th ODI – November 15, Mount Maunganui
Test series:
1st Test – November 19-23, Wellington
2nd Test – November 27-December 1, Christchurch
The ODI and Test squads for the senior Indian team will be announced later. For now, though, one thing is confirmed after four long years, Swing King is back.
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