Pacer Bhuvneshwar raring to play all three formats

Bhuvneshwar's exclusion from the Test squad to England was surprising since the seam-friendly conditions in the country are considered ideal for him. Lack of competitive multi-day cricket in recent times is being considered the reason behind Uttar Pradesh seamer not being picked in the Virat Kohli-led squad that will play the World Test Championship final against New Zealand in June and five Tests against England in August-September.

New Delhi: After being dropped from India's Test squad for the upcoming tour of England, pace bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar said on Saturday that he hopes to play the longest format of the game.

"I have always prepared myself for all three formats irrespective of the team selection and will continue to do the same," tweeted Bhuvneshwar on Saturday.

The right-arm seamers exclusion from the Test squad to England was surprising since the seam-friendly conditions in the country are considered ideal for him.

Lack of competitive multi-day cricket in recent times is being considered the reason behind Uttar Pradesh seamer not being picked in the Virat Kohli-led squad that will play the World Test Championship final against New Zealand in June and five Tests against England in August-September.

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India had named a 20-member Test squad last week for the tour of England.

The squad includes six pace bowlers. Also, there are three pacers among the four players kept as standby.

The selectors' decision showed Bhuvi isn't in the scheme of things for Tests as of now, not even for the bench.

Bhuvneshwar has not played a first-class match since January 2018.

The last first-class he played was the January 24-27 Test match in 2018 against South Africa in Johannesburg.

Since then, while he has been considered for white-ball formats as his death-overs bowling has improved, he has not been deemed fit for selection for Test matches.

Bhuvneshwar suffered a thigh muscle injury during a clash between SunRisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings on October 2 in IPL 2020.

That ruled him out of India's tour of Australia.

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He made a comeback to competitive cricket in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s as well as Vijay Hazare one-dayers following which he was picked in the India squad for the white-ball home series against England.