Correspondent, 18 October: During the fifth T20 match between India and West Indies, Bhuvneshwar Kumar's changed jersey number became a bigger topic of discussion than his return to the team. Having worn jersey number 15 throughout his entire career, he surprisingly took the field wearing number 78. It has now been revealed that the senior pacer gave up his favorite number for a young player.
Youngster Gurnoor Brar, who is currently part of the Indian One Day International (ODI) squad, selected jersey number 15. Consequently, Bhuvneshwar surrendered the number for him and chose 78 for himself. Many fans have theorized that he picked this new number because the sum of 7 and 8 equals 15. In the upcoming New Zealand tour, Bhuvneshwar will feature in India's T20 squad, while Gurnoor will be seen playing for the ODI team.
Fans were eagerly waiting to see Bhuvneshwar bowl, and he was included in the playing eleven for this match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. India was scheduled to bat first in the game, which initially started late due to rain. However, the rain returned just after the batsmen stepped onto the field, eventually forcing the match to be canceled. As a result, Bhuvneshwar did not get an opportunity to bowl.
There is now a strong possibility that Bhuvneshwar Kumar will play in the first T20 match against New Zealand in Christchurch on October 22. Given the haste shown by Captain Shreyas Iyer and Coach Gambhir to include him in the final team in Bengaluru, it is widely believed he will definitely get an opportunity in the opening game in New Zealand. The swing and bounce offered by New Zealand pitches are highly favorable for fast bowlers, raising expectations for an excellent performance from him. A five-match T20 series is scheduled to be played between India and New Zealand from October 22 to November 1.
