Bhuvneshwar Kumar drops subtle hint on retiring from International Cricket with suspicious Instagram activity

Veteran Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar might be planning of retiring from International Cricket. The 33-year-old came up with some suspicious activity on Instagram; his bio read ‘Indian Cricketer. Family First. Pet lover. Casual Gamer’ has now been changed to ‘Indian. Family First. Pet lover. Casual Gamer.’ He has removed the word ‘Cricketer’ and the fans who noticed have speculated his retirement thoughts.

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Kumar was last seen in national colours when he played in an ODI vs South Africa in January 2022 in Paarl. He remained wicketless after a spell of eight overs. He has been sidelined from the national team due to injuries and poor form since then. However, he was seen in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League and he performed well, scalping 16 wickets in 14 games for Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Ravichandran Ashwin could accompany Bhuvneshwar Kumar

According to a report by The Cricket Lounge, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is likely to announce his retirement from international cricket after India’s tour of Ireland. The same report also mentioned that alongside Kumar, India’s spin ace Ravichandran Ashwin could also announce his retirement from limited-overs cricket.

In the shortest format of the game, Kumar was a part of the T20 World Cup in 2022. He took three wickets in four matches and remained wicketless in his previous T20I against New Zealand in Napier. The 33-year-old was left out by the Indian Cricket Board in the list of centrally contracted players and is not in the plans for the ODI World Cup 2023. He was also snubbed for the ongoing tour of the West Indies.

Team India are currently engaged in a tour of the West Indies. They won the two-match Test series by 1-0 and have won the first of the three ODIs by five wickets. Following this, they will be contesting in a five-match T20I series. They’ll tour Ireland in August, following which the announcement is anticipated from Kumar. He played 21 Tests, 117 ODIs, and 48 T20Is for India, taking 63, 132, and 49 wickets, respectively. Notably, he is the only Indian bowler to register five-wicket hauls in all three formats of the game.