'Every time we toured ENG or NZ, the guy was unfit': Shastri on 'argument' with India star

Former Indian cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri has expressed his thoughts on a Indian cricketer while revealing that he has an ‘argument’ with the player, each time they meet. Shastri shed his views during a recent conversation with the ESPN Cricinfo, on the topic of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). SRH has an inconsistent IPL 2022 season as the team started with two consecutive losses and have won six out of the 13 games they have played this season. 

However, the bowling unit has been impressive for the squad as the pace bowling unit comprising Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan and Umran Malik has made a mark. Meanwhile, speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, the former India head coach spoke about Bhuvneshwar, while revealing details about a particular argument of theirs. Revealing the same, Shastri said Bhuvneshwar was unfit whenever the team overseas to England or New Zealand.

“I'm not surprised at all. Every time I meet Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar), I have an argument with him. I say, if he can only focus and work harder on his fitness… his experience and ability in all formats of the game is remarkable. Every time we toured England or New Zealand, the guy was unfit. I said, ‘you lost yourself 50 red ball wickets in the last couple of years’. If he stays fit, he is an automatic choice in the Indian team, forget Sunrisers”.

A look at Bhuvneshwar Kumar's stats-

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is one of the top pacers of India, whose career has been badly affected with injuries. Although he appeared for India in the previous T20I series against Sri Lanka, he last played red-ball cricket in January 2018. He played his last ODI game in January 21 against South Africa in Paarl. 

Despite making his Test debut in 2013, Bhuvneshwar has played only 21 Test matches for India and has contributed with 63 wickets. In the ODI format, Bhuvneshwar has played 121 games, while taking 141 wickets. He has also dismissed 58 wickets in the T20 format of the game.

In the IPL 2022, Bhuvneshwar had has a significant impact for SRH as he has contributed with 12 wickets so far. Umran has been the most impressive player for SRH by contributing with 21 wickets with his sheer pace. Natarajan meanwhile has 18 wickets to his tally in IPL 2022 so far.

(Image: BCCI)