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Ashwin says Bhuvneshwar's India 'chapter is maybe closed', backs Shami's rhythm instead
After a New Zealand series in which the recalled seamer took one wicket in his first three games, R Ashwin said it was hard to see Bhuvneshwar Kumar coming back again and pointed to Mohammed Shami's Ranji Trophy form.
Key points
- R Ashwin said Bhuvneshwar Kumar's India 'chapter is maybe closed' after the New Zealand T20Is.
- Bhuvneshwar went for 139 runs for one wicket in his first three games of the series.
- Ashwin said Mohammed Shami is in much better rhythm in the Ranji Trophy.
R Ashwin has written off Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s second coming as an India bowler almost as quickly as he welcomed it. Speaking on his YouTube show after India’s five-match T20I series in New Zealand, the former off-spinner said the door has probably shut on the 36-year-old and that Mohammed Shami now has the better claim.
“So I think that chapter is maybe closed. It’s very difficult. How will he come back?” Ashwin said.
Bhuvneshwar was recalled after nearly four years away on the strength of a strong IPL season with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. In New Zealand he struggled to find the swing that made his name. In his first three matches he conceded 139 runs for a single wicket, going at 11.58 an over, before being left out and then brought back for the final game in Hamilton, which New Zealand won by seven wickets. India took the series 3-2.
‘A difference of sky and earth’
Ashwin was blunt about the gap between the seamer’s league form and what he showed for India. “Bhuvneshwar Kumar, he hasn’t bowled that well; he didn’t prove his form,” he said. “IPL and here, there was a difference of sky and earth.”
He also pointed out that age changes how long selectors wait. “If you’re a new kid or a young boy, you’ll get ten chances,” he said.
It is a sharp turn from his tone a month ago. When the squad was named in October, Ashwin said he was “extremely happy that Bhuvneshwar has broken down the door for his selection” and called the recall “the reward for his success”.
Shami’s case
Ashwin’s preference now is Bhuvneshwar’s old new-ball partner. “So right now I’m thinking that the way Shami is coming in Ranji and bowling, Shami is in much better rhythm,” he said.
Shami has not played for India since the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand in March 2025. He is back in Bengal’s Ranji Trophy side, and on Monday at Eden Gardens he opened the bowling against Maharashtra with three overs for four runs, including a maiden. He has 229 Test wickets, 206 in ODIs and 27 in T20Is.
Ashwin had left that opening in October too. “The fact that they have picked Bhuvneshwar (Kumar), I would not say that the door is shut on (Mohammed) Shami either,” he said then. A month on, he has swapped the two names around.