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By:

Umang Deshmukh

13 April 2025 at 9:05:10 pm

Return of the Swing King

After nearly four years in the air, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is back in India’s plans. Every swing bowler knows the feeling: the ball hangs in the air, and for a suspended moment, nobody can say which way it will go. For nearly four years, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s international career seemed suspended in that moment. On October 6, the BCCI announced that the 36-year-old pacer had been included in India’s T20I squad for the five-match series in New Zealand. The opening match is scheduled to be played at...

Return of the Swing King

After nearly four years in the air, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is back in India’s plans. Every swing bowler knows the feeling: the ball hangs in the air, and for a suspended moment, nobody can say which way it will go. For nearly four years, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s international career seemed suspended in that moment. On October 6, the BCCI announced that the 36-year-old pacer had been included in India’s T20I squad for the five-match series in New Zealand. The opening match is scheduled to be played at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, on October 22, with the series concluding on November 1. Meerut was where it all began for Bhuvneshwar. He joined the first coaching centre in the city when he was 13, after his sister took him along. Little did he know that this would eventually lead to him delivering the new ball for India. He made his international debut against Pakistan in December 2012 and was part of the squad that won the 2013 Champions Trophy. His strength, however, was never sheer pace. It lay in his ability to swing the ball both ways. He showcased this skill at Lord’s in 2014, taking 6 for 82. His performances also earned him Player of the Series honours on the England tour. But injuries continued to trouble him. A lower-back problem affected him during the 2018 ODI series in England, sidelining him for the first three tests. He also underwent surgery for a sports hernia in 2020, which kept him out of the tour of New Zealand that year. Nevertheless, he continued to make comebacks and was appointed India’s T20I vice-captain at the start of 2022. In September that year, he delivered one of the finest spells of his career, taking five wickets for four runs against Afghanistan in Dubai. His last assignment for India was in New Zealand in November 2022, following India’s T20 World Cup semi-final defeat by England in Adelaide. Bhuvi’s IPL performances strengthened his case for a recall. After taking 17 wickets in 14 matches for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2025, he produced a career-best season in 2026, claiming 28 wickets in 16 matches at an average of 17.89 and an economy rate of 7.95. His combined tally across the two seasons stood at 45 wickets in 30 matches. He was also the second-highest wicket-taker in the competition. Indian batting coach Sitanshu Kotak spoke about the selection decision on October 8. According to media reports, Kotak said Bhuvneshwar’s experience and impressive IPL performances could have influenced the decision to select him for the upcoming T20I fixtures in New Zealand. Kotak also spoke about the importance of Jasprit Bumrah’s experience, saying that the team had missed it during the recent England series. “We need that experience,” Kotak said, according to reports. “The youngsters need to learn from him. I think we need to give him that opportunity.” Bhuvneshwar will join a pace unit featuring Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav and Prince Yadav. Bumrah, meanwhile, has been rested, with Shreyas Iyer set to lead the side. The five-match T20I series will be part of India’s wider tour of New Zealand, which is also scheduled to include five ODIs and two Tests. It will be India’s first white-ball series in New Zealand since the 2022 tour. New Zealand’s conditions, where the new ball can swing, could also play to Bhuvneshwar’s strengths. He will be looking to add to his international wicket tally. The journey has come full circle for the Meerut lad who first walked into a coaching centre at 13. He made his international debut against Pakistan in December 2012, aged 22. Now 36, he is set to take on New Zealand once again, after a career marked by injuries and repeated comebacks. If he gets the nod in Christchurch, the delivery will finally land. But after nearly four years in the air, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has answered the question that mattered: the swing never left.

Clever seat selection helped BJP to secure historic win

Writer: Ruddhi Phadke
Ruddhi Phadke
Nov 29, 2024
2 min read

The party won 65 seats against Congress, 37 against NCP (SP) and 29 against Shiv Sena (UBT)

Clever seat selection

Mumbai: The BJP’s strategic seat sharing with the allies has proved beneficial for the party. An analysis of the Assembly election results show that the BJP has scored over its main rival, the Congress, in a big way because of the direct fights.


The analysis shows that BJP defeated all three constituents of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) – in the direct fights. This is attributed as one of the reasons for the BJP’s historic poll success.


The BJP contested 147 out of 288 seats. In 76 constituencies, it faced Congress. BJP secured victory in 65 seats and lost only 11 seats, making it a whopping 86 per cent of the total direct fights. This was followed by an even stronger performance against NCP (SP). Of the total 39 fights with Sharad Pawar’s party, BJP captured 37 seats making it 95 per cent of the total fights with NCP (SP). BJP and Shiv Sena (UBT) were head-to-head in 32 constituencies, of which BJP emerged victorious in 29 seats, making this 91 per cent of the total direct contests.


According to a BJP strategist the party had bargained hard with its allies, Shiv Sena and NCP to get the desired constituencies in the seat sharing formula. “We had studied to potential candidates of the MVA. That helped us in choosing the seats where we can register comfortable victories,” the strategist said.


BJP spokesperson Niranjan Shetty attributed the success to all the party workers who worked hard to boost development, infrastructure in the state. He gave credit to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for his contribution to the party’s success.


Shetty pointed out that in 2019, Uddhav Thackeray had stalled all the “novel” and “legendary” projects that Fadnavis had started when he had taken over as CM, making it very easy for the people of Maharashtra to strike a comparison between both the leaders and the potential they had for serving the people. “Devendra Fadnavis gave up his post very easily for the larger good. There are many such examples like Venkaiah Naidu who was BJP National President and later worked as the Vice President of India because that was the need of the hour. We seldom care about our posts,” Shetty told The Perfect Voice.


Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe refused to call the election results as the people’s mandate. “This is not at all a Janata mandate. Despite Maharashtra struggling with so many basic social issues, how can BJP acquire such a huge mandate is the question. If a student copies and fails with just passing marks, it can go unnoticed, but if a student copies and bags the number one position, something is fishy. Why is the BJP scared of ballot papers?” he said.

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