Ravichandran Ashwin backs Bhuvneshwar Kumar for ODI World Cup 2027

Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has backed senior fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the 2027 World Cup. He believes the management should bring Bhuvneshwar Kumar into the scheme of things—playing him in domestic cricket and including him in the national team—because his services will be needed for the World Cup. Bhuvneshwar last represented India in November 2022 in the T20I format, and last played an ODI that same year.

Since then, the team management has moved on from him due to his history of injuries and age not being on his side, currently aged 36. If the 'Swing King' of India plays the 2027 ODI World Cup, he will be 37 years of age and the senior-most pacer in the squad. Speaking in a video posted on ESPNCricinfo's YouTube, Ashwin said,

"Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a yes. I would communicate to him. Get him to play all the tournaments, first-class, Vijay Hazare, everything, and get him prime going to South Africa. I think we will need him there."

Ravichandran Ashwin has outlined his 15-member Indian squad for the 2027 ODI World Cup. He has included senior players in the team, such as Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Siraj, and Kuldeep Yadav. Two youngsters who received a thumbs up from Ashwin were pacer Harshit Rana, whose height, ability to hit the deck, pace and batting could be handy in testing South African conditions and wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan. 

Ashwin did not definitively confirm star players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh, and Prasidh Krishna for the World Cup, noting only that they might make it into the squad. Meanwhile, he effectively ruled out the possibility of Mohammed Shami's availability.

Among the names he said 'No' to were wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson, India's T20I sensation Abhishek Sharma, star wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, Ravi Bishnoi, all-rounder Shivam Dube and pacers Prince Yadav and Gurnoor Brar.