Lack Of Long Format Cricket Reason Behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar's Exclusion

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Bhuvneshwar Kumar's exclusion from the Test squad to England may have been surprising but the lack of competitive multi-day cricket in recent times is being considered the reason behind Uttar Pradesh seamer not being flown to a country that offers help to his style of bowling.

India had named a 20-member Test squad last week for the tour of England during which the team will play the World Test Championship final against New Zealand in June as well as five Test matches against England in August-September.

The squad includes six pace bowlers. Also, there are three pacers among the four players kept as standby. The selectors' decision means Bhuvi isn't in the scheme of things for Tests even on the bench.

The reason being bandied about is that he hasn't played days; format for a long time now, especially since returning from injury that he suffered during the IPL 2020 season. "The selectors think that he is still not fit to play long format especially on such a long tour," said a source.

Besides, India's pace bowling has done extremely well in recent times with the tour of Australia throwing up quite a few young options who don't seem to be unnerved by the occasion and seem fit enough to bowl long spells.

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