Bhuvneshwar Kumar made a remarkable comeback to first-class cricket after an absence of nearly six years, delivering an impressive 5-wicket performance for Uttar Pradesh against Bengal in the second-round Ranji Trophy match. Bhuvneshwar was out of competitive cricket since last year's Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he played five matches for Uttar Pradesh. 

3 things you need to know

• Bhuvneshwar Kumar has not played for India since T20 World Cup 2022
• Bhuvneshwar was last seen playing for UP during the Vijay Hazare Trophy
• The fast bowler picked up a five-wicket haul in his first match back in Ranji Trophy

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Bhuvneshwar Kumar bosses Bengal with brilliant bowling

On Day 1, Bengal found themselves in a precarious position at 95/5 after bundling out Uttar Pradesh for a mere 60 in the first innings. Bhuvneshwar Kumar played a pivotal role in shifting the momentum toward UP by dismissing Sourav Paul, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Anustup Majumdar, Manoj Tiwary, and Abishek Porel.

With this, Bhuvneshwar picked up his 13th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. The last time the veteran India bowler played a Test match for India was way back in 2018. He has been since replaced by Mohammed Shami in the red-ball format for the country. 

As far as the match is concerned, Bengal's captain, Manoj Tiwary won the toss and elected to bowl first on the Kanpur pitch. Uttar Pradesh's Samarth Singh, Aryan Juyal, and captain Nitish Rana were the only ones to reach double figures in their first innings, where the entire team was bundled out for 60 runs.

Mohammad Kaif stood out as Bengal's top-performing bowler with figures of 4/14 on Day 1, followed by Suraj Jaiswal with 3 wickets, and Ishan Porel taking two. Mohammad Kaif is the younger brother of Shami.