WATCH: Bhuvneshwar Kumar Makes a Statement With Fifer in Ranji Trophy Ahead of India's Squad Selection For England Tests

Veteran India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar produced a stellar performance with the ball in the Ranji Trophy match between Uttar Pradesh and Bengal. The UP seamer claimed a five-wicket haul on his return to first class cricket after a span of about 6 months. Bhuvneshwar, who is known for swing bowling, ran riot and dismantled the Bengal batting line-up on his own.

Bengal lost five wickets on Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy clash and all five were taken by Bhuvneshwar. At stumps, Bengal were 95/5 but they managed to take a 35-run lead as Uttar Pradesh had a horrible day with the bat as they were bundled out for 60 while batting first.

Bhuvneshwar’s fifer kept them alive in the game as he dismissed Sourav Paul (13), Sudip Kumar Gharami (0), Anustup Majumdar (12), Manoj Tiwary (3) and Abishek Porel (12). He finished the day with the figures of 5/25 in 13 overs.

Bhuvneshwar has been out of the Indian cricket team for a long time as he last played for the national team way back in November 2022. Meanwhile, it was 2018 when the UP pacer last played a Test match.

Meanwhile, his stellar performance came a few days before India’s squad announcement for five-match Test series against England.

Earlier, Bhuvneshwar missed the first Ranji Trophy match due to some personal reasons. He had a good white-ball leg for UP and was the side’s leading wicket-taker with 11 wickets from 5 games.

The veteran pacer also missed out on a place in India’s T20I squad for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa, despite his impressive show in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this season where he claimed 16 wickets in just 7 matches.

Meanwhile, in the Ranji Trophy match on Friday, Bengal won the toss and elected to bowl first against Uttar Pradesh. Bengal had to use just three bowling options to bundle out the hosts for just 60. Mohammad Kaif was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors as he picked a four-fer, while Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal claimed three, while Ishan Porel scalped two.

Brief Scores: Uttar Pradesh 60 all out in 20.5 overs (Samarth Singh 13; Mohammed Kaif 4/14, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 3/20, Ishan Porel 2/24) vs Bengal 95 for 5 in 28 overs (Sayan Ghosh 37 batting; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 5/25).