T20 World Cup: Bhuvneshwar dazzles in India’s win over Netherlands with consecutive maidens in powerplay

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been copping a lot of criticism lately for leaking runs aplenty, especially in the death overs. The veteran seamer had faced a lot of flak for bowling two horror overs during India’s Asia Cup campaign, both the penultimate over of the innings against Pakistan and Sri Lanka respectively.

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He was even more expensive against Australia at home, going wicketless for 52 runs in the first T20I at Mohali in which India failed to defend 209, leading to some sections of the Indian cricketing fanbase to doubt his place in the Men in Blue’s T20 World Cup squad.

Bhuvneshwar, however, has been a different beast in the T20 World Cup so far. After a disciplined outing against Pakistan where he conceded 22 from four overs while dismissing Shaheen Shah Afridi, he was even better against Netherlands on Thursday in India’s second match of the Super 12 stage.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the first 2 overs: 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,W,0,0,0,0.

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 27, 2022

After India posted a challenging 179/2 on the board in what was a two-paced Sydney wicket, Bhuvneshwar helped build pressure on the Dutch early in the innings with back-to-back maidens in the powerplay. Opener Vikramjit Singh failed to score a run in the first over of the run chase, and would get his stumps rattled in the third, which would finish as a wicket-maiden for the swing specialist with his powerplay figures reading 2-2-0-1.

! Bhuvneshwar Kumar now holds the record for the most maiden overs bowled in T20Is in a single calendar year (5 in 2022).

♥️ A top notch performance from him today!

Getty • #BhuvneshwarKumar #INDvNED #NEDvIND #T20WorldCup #TeamIndia #BharatArmy pic.twitter.com/lpelAjmH1u

— The Bharat Army (@thebharatarmy) October 27, 2022

Bhuvi would be then be brought back in the death overs with the target well beyond Netherlands’s reach; he would add a second wicket for himself by dismissing Dutch captain Scott Edwards, and would concede his only boundary of the evening the next ball to Shariz Ahmed.

Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Shami would bowl the remaining overs of the chase, by then reduced to a formality, as India collected a second win on the trot, hammering Netherlands by 56 runs to stay on top of Group 2.

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