Asia Cup 2016: Why Bhuvneshwar Kumar and not Barinder Sran?

Asia Cup 2016: Why Bhuvneshwar Kumar and not Barinder Sran?

Following Mohammed Shami’s injury, India selected Bhuvneshwar Kumar ahead of Barinder Sran for the upcoming Asia Cup T20 2016. The decision is somewhat baffling keeping the miserable current form of the former. Shami’s injury just ahead of the T20 tournament has anyway come as blow for the Indian team. However, it could have been a brave but smart decision, had The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chosen Sran as Shami’s replacement and not Bhuvneshwar. If BCCI wanted to pick a replacement for Shami, they could easily have gone for Sran, who did a splendid job in the first two One-Day Internationals (ODIs) in Australia ahead of Bhuvneshwar, who is currently not quite in the form of his life. Sakshi Gupta has more. READ: Mohammed Shami ruled out of Asia Cup 2016

A 23-year-old Barinder Sran showed character and majority when he played his very first match on India’s recent tour of Australia. When Indians faced Western Australia (WA) in their first tour match, Sran opened bowling for the visitors. He took no more than an over to announce his arrival when he dismissed D’Arcy Short in his second over. That wasn’t the end; he struck again in his next over, removing WA skipper William Bosisto before finishing his quota of 4 overs with 2 wickets at a decent economy 6 an over. A good spell in the second tour match, in the 50-over format, ensured his place in the playing XI in the first 3 ODIs against Australia at WACA, The Gabba and MCG respectively.

Though Sran managed wickets only in the first match, he was very economical when compared to the other bowlers. Despite Sran not playing all matches, only Ishant Sharma (9) and Umesh Yadav (7) finished with more wickets than him among the Indian bowlers.

Meanwhile, Bhuvneshwar last played a T20I against South Africa in 2015, and went wicketless, conceding 10 an over. India had lost both the ODI and T20I series at home in the absence of Shami despite the presence of Bhuvneshwar. He went for runs in the first four ODIs, but the fifth match saw him reach another planet: AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis all went after him, and Bhuvneshwar, in his 10 overs, dribbled out 106 runs and made no breakthrough.

When Bhuvneshwar has had a string of poor performances in the subcontinent, his selection for the Asia Cup does not justify much. Sran, who put up a decent show on debut in alien conditions of Australia, was certainly a better bet.

(Sakshi Gupta, reporter with CricketCountry, is a sports fanatic whose mantra in life is “do only what you enjoy.” Her Twitter handle is @sakshi2929)