India are set to play the World Test Championship final against New Zealand in Southampton in June which will be followed by a five-match Test series against the English team.
The BCCI recently announced the squad for the tour and to everyone’s surprise, seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s name was missing. But according to a report in the Times of India, sources close to the right-arm bowler have said that Bhuvi is no longer interested in playing Test cricket anymore.
"Bhuvneshwar just doesn’t want to play Test cricket anymore. That drive has gone missing," they were quoted as saying.
Kumar played his last Test match back in January 2018 against South Africa where he put up a man of the match performance against the visiting Proteas side picking up four wickets and scoring a total of 66 runs in a low scoring affair.
Injuries have marred his game time ever since, which did not allow him to play all matches in the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League and participate in India's tour Down Under. He made a good return against England in home conditions but just when he looked to getting back in top condition he got injured once again in the 14th edition of the IPL.
The TOI report has further quoted sources on the same, who revealed that Kumar prefers the white ball format at the moment.
“Those who have seen him from close insist he brought in a huge change in his work-drills a couple of seasons ago, doing away with heavy weight training, falling to the lure of the white-ball comfort and avoiding those hours of long spells that are so integral to red-ball cricket," TOI quoted.
“To be honest, the selectors don’t even see Bhuvi hungry for 10 overs, forget Test cricket. It’s Team India’s loss no doubt, because if one bowler should have made it to England, it should have been him."
Kumar has played 21 Tests for India where he has picked 63 wickets for the team.
India marched into the WTC final after series wins over Australia and England respectively. India first defeated Australia 2-1 away from home and then thumped England 3-1 on the home soil to register a place in the final.
The side would be led by Virat Kohli while all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is also back in the team after recovering from injury. KL Rahul and Wriddhiman Saha’s selection is subject to fitness clearance.
India’s squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper; subject to fitness clearance).
Standby players: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Arzan Nagwaswalla