Had plans for Warner, Cartwright from the outset: Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Kolkata, Sep 21 - India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar said he had plans chalked out for openers David Warner and Hilton Cartwright, the two wickets he got first up as India beat Australia by 50 runs in the second ODI here at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.

"Yes I planned. First bowl I bowled I knew there is some swing on the wicket.

"Specially for Warner, generally I bowl outswingers to him in Tests also so I knew there is a good chance I can get him out. And for Cartwright, it was normal, top of off-stump for him," Bhuvneshwar, whose first spell (6-2-9-2) had the tourists on the mat, said at the post match press conference.

Bhuvneshwar returned figures of 3/9 in 6.1 overs to help India win by 50 runs and go 2-0 up in the five-match series.

Kuldeep Yadav bagged a hattrick (3/54) taking three consecutive wickets of Mathew Wade, Ashton Agar and Pat Cummins in the 33rd over to become the second bowler in limited overs cricket to script a hattrick at this venue and only the third Indian to record the rare feat in 50 overs cricket.

Asked if the Aussies are struggling to pick Indian spinners, Bhuvneshwar said: "Our bowlers are bowling too well maybe. They score off our spinners in the IPL so they (Australia) can play spin. Our bowlers then are maybe bowling better here and they cannot pick them."

On his evolution as a bowler in recent years, Bhuvneshwar, who is now a regular in the first XI across formats for India and has been performing well, said: "When I started, I used to depend on conditions. Then I started improving as I played more international cricket. The more you play you know the areas you need to improve on. One year after I started playing, I knew I had to increase pace.

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"I had no clue how to do it. Then our trainer came Mr (Shankar) Basu and he changed the training regime. Knowingly or unknowingly, my pace increased and with that my death bowling also improved."

Bhuvneshwar, who scored a match-winning half century in Sri Lanka before this series, said he always possessed batting skill and it was his knock against the Sri Lankans that gave him confidence he can score in ODIs too.

"I haven't tried anything differently. I have natural talent and I know I can bat. Specially when it comes to Tests, I can continue. In ODIs, you have to hit at my position and I don't have that ability. But in the last three-four matches, the situations I got myself in, 10-15 overs I batted and in Sri Lanka I got the confidence that I can contribute in ODI as well. My batting coach Sanjay Bangar has worked on my batting as well."

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IANS