Bhuvneshwar Kumar Takes Career-best 8/41 on Return to First-class Cricket

Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s unprecedented comeback to red-ball cricket continues to dazzle all, as the ace pacer notched up his career-best bowling figures on his return to first-class cricket, clinching 8 wickets for just 41 runs in 22 overs.

Bhuvneshwar was the main man for Uttar Pradesh on Day 2 in the 2024 Ranji Trophy, as they eventually bowled out a distraught Bengal side for 188 runs, following their very own batting order crumbling in the first innings for a dismal 60 runs.

He finished with five wickets at Stumps on Day 1 before picking up three more on Day 2. Eventually, he claimed his 13th five-wicket haul while registering his career-best FC figures of 8/41. Courtesy of his heroics, Bengal was bundled out for 188 runs, keeping Uttar Pradesh in the heated contest.

Bhuvneshwar’s eight-wicket haul saw him dismiss the likes of Sourav Paul (13), Sudip Kumar Gharami (0), Anustup Majumdar (12), Manoj Tiwary (3) and Abishek Porel (12) on the first day when he finished with the figures of 5/25 in 13 overs.

He continued to wreak havoc over the Bengal ranks on the second day, as he went on to scalp the likes of Shreyansh Ghosh (41), Pradipta Pramanik (1) and Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal (20) to finally end his fiery eight-wicket haul.

Bhuvneshwar has been out of the Indian cricket team for a long time as he last played for the national team way back in November 2022. Meanwhile, it was 2018 when the UP pacer last played a Test match.

Meanwhile, his stellar performance came a few days before India’s squad announcement for five-match Test series against England.’

Now, with news of young pacer Prasidh Krishna’s injury being reported, all eyes are on Bhuvneshwar again to clinch his opportunity at the domestic level to make a statement to the selectors.

Earlier, Bhuvneshwar missed the first Ranji Trophy match due to some personal reasons. He had a good white-ball leg for UP and was the side’s leading wicket-taker with 11 wickets from 5 games.

The veteran pacer also missed out on a place in India’s T20I squad for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa, despite his impressive show in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this season where he claimed 16 wickets in just 7 matches.