Can swing the ball more than other bowlers: Bhuvneshwar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been criticised of late for comprising on swing for a bit more pace but the Indian seamer believes that he can still do it better than other bowlers.

Bhuvneshwar returned to form with impressive figures of 3/41 in India's 22-run win over South Africa in the second ODI, here yesterday.

"I believe I still swing the ball; but as a bowler you also need conditions to assist your swing bowling. If there is someone who is able to swing the ball, I believe I have it in me to swing it a bit more than the other bowlers," Bhuvneshwar told bcci.Tv after India's victory.

"But I also need a bit of assistance from the conditions to swing the ball. I have not intentionally tried to gain pace in my bowling. It is something that has developed with time," said the unassuming medium pacer from Meerut.

Bhuvneshwar has had a tough 2015 where he did not get too many chances and also wickets dried up for him but according to him, he was always confident about striking form at the first opportunity.

"I am very confident about my bowling at the moment. As a bowler there are times when you do not get wickets and you don't have the numbers to show against your name. But never has the thought crossed my mind that I am not a confident bowler and the wickets are not coming my way. If you are confident you will end up getting wickets at the end of the day which is exactly what happened tonight."

"I did not get wickets at the start of the innings but we knew that if there were a few quick blows, South Africa would find it difficult to chase the total down. I was extremely confident of picking wickets when the game was well poised and heading towards a tight finish. It was all about being patient and bowling well which would get me wickets," Bhuvneshwar said.

Talking about skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's unbeaten 92, Bhuvneshwar said, "When MS Dhoni walked into the dressing room after playing that knock, he just brought in a positive vibe with him. We as a team just believed that we could defend this total. The talk amongst ourselves was that '250 is a tricky score and we have to bowl well to win this match'. We did exactly that and we will remain positive in the coming matches as well."

For Bhuvneshwar, watching Dhoni singlehandedly pull the team out of the rut is not a new thing.

"This is not the first time that our captain has singlehandedly led the way. He has been doing it for many years now and we have always seen over the years that he always comes out on top when the team is in such a difficult situation. He has always made it a point to take the team to a good total and won us games.

"You need a batsman like him who bats long and also carries the tail-enders and gives them the confidence to bat well. We are lucky that we are playing under him and learning a lot from him," the seamer was all praise for his skipper.