Now Bumrah will not play even in the T20 series against New Zealand. In such a situation, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s return to Team India after almost four years is being linked to this deficiency. Indian batting coach Sitanshu Kotak also admitted that this selection may have been made keeping experience in mind.
Before the second T20 in Ranchi, Kotak said that during Bumrah’s absence in England, young bowlers got a chance, but after a time the team needs experience. According to him, this could also be the reason behind Bhuvneshwar’s selection.
Bhuvneshwar has taken 45 wickets for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the last two IPL seasons. He took 17 wickets in IPL 2025 and 28 wickets in 2026. His performance in 2026 with an economy of 7.95 played a key role in RCB winning the title for the second consecutive time.
Bhuvneshwar’s experience and ability to swing the new ball can also be useful to India in New Zealand conditions. The team has fast bowlers like Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav and Prince Yadav, but according to Kotak, the selectors would have given priority to experience considering the conditions in New Zealand.
Kotak also supported increased role of BCCI Center of Excellence chief VVS Laxman in selection meetings. He said that he has worked with Laxman for about three years and he is very serious and committed to the needs of Indian cricket. He also told that there are regular conversations between Gautam Gambhir and Laxman.
On Ishan Kishan’s batting, Kotak said that his biggest specialty now is his maturity. Ishaan, who has scored 1042 T20 International runs in 2026, is the highest run-scorer this year and can leave behind the record of 1488 runs in the calendar year.
Kotak said that Ishan no longer just bats aggressively, but plays according to the situation of the team and the match. For the match to be held in Ranchi, he described the pitch as high-scoring, but did not give any clear indication about Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s play.