India have added veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar to their squad for the fifth T20I against West Indies in Bengaluru. The move comes after Arshdeep Singh suffered an injury during the fourth T20I in Hyderabad.
“Bhuvneshwar Kumar was added to the squad after Arshdeep Singh sustained a blow to his bowling shoulder during the fourth T20I of the series against West Indies on Wednesday in Hyderabad. A decision on his participation for the final T20I will be taken prior to the game based on his recovery,” BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said in a statement.
Arshdeep retired hurt after scoring five runs off four deliveries in the final over of the fourth T20I on Wednesday. West Indies went on to win the match and level the five-match series 2-2. The 36-year-old Bhuvneshwar is set to return to the national side for the first time in nearly four years. His last international appearance for India came against New Zealand in Napier in November 2022.
The veteran pacer had been scheduled to make his comeback during India's upcoming tour of New Zealand, which begins on October 22 with a five-match T20I series. Bhuvneshwar has been among the leading wicket-takers in the IPL over the past two editions, claiming 45 wickets across the tournaments.
India’s updated T20I squad: Shreyas Iyer [C], Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan [WK], Sanju Samson [WK], Tilak Varma [VC], Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Naman Dhir, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.