I believe it was god-gifted – Bhuvneshwar Kumar on his ability to swing the ball

The art of fast-bowling comes in with its fair shares of challenges. For pacers, longevity has been a major problem. With the stress the body goes through, wear and tear happens much more intensely. However, the greats of the game have still managed to balance it all and eventually hunt greatness.

Talking about greatness, one name that comes to the fore is RCB’s swing king, Bhuvneshwar Kumar. With 201 matches and a haul of 219 wickets, Bhuvi has rewritten records at will. His four-wicket haul against Mumbai Indians returned him to the pole position on the wicket-taker’s list, enhancing his tally to a staggering 21 wickets.

Talking on the latest episode of RCB Bold Diaries, Bhuvneshwar Kumar opened up on his swing and how it has always come very naturally to him. Bhuvi also highlighted that the fundamentals of fast bowling haven’t really changed.

Shedding light on his strengths, Bhuvi said, “I think the swing was always there in me, it was natural. I believe it was God-gifted. I am sure that from 70s or 80s whenever there is cricket around, even until now, the basics are the same.”

Pitting the bowling skills against modern-day T20 cricket, Bhuvi added, “I know the formats have changed, it’s become a bit difficult for bowlers because the demand of the game is a bit different, it’s a 20-over game and the effort is to score more runs. But the art of fast-bowling and the basics – swinging the ball, having a good gather, what we generally call a good smooth action, someone has express pace or bounce, I think that is still the same.”