Bhuvneshwar Kumar Returns to India’s T20I Squad After Four-Year Gap
Veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has made a return to India’s T20I setup after four years, earning a place in the squad for the five-match T20I series against New Zealand, beginning October 22 at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
Bhuvneshwar last represented India in T20Is against New Zealand in Napier in November 2022, shortly after the T20 World Cup. The 36-year-old pacer’s impressive IPL campaign with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), where he claimed 28 wickets at an economy rate of 7.95, played a crucial role in the RCB's second title and helped earn him a recall to the national side.
He had also taken 17 wickets for RCB in the 2025 IPL season.
Bhuvneshwar has featured in 87 T20Is for India, taking 90 wickets at an economy rate of 6.96. Against New Zealand (in New Zealand) he has picked up four wickets in five matches at an economy rate of 6.95.
India T20I Squad for New Zealand Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma (VC), Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Mayank Yadav and Prince Yadav.
