India's bowling coach Morne Morkel has asked Bhuvneshwar Kumar to shut out the noise around his international comeback, after an expensive start in New Zealand, ESPNcricinfo reported.
Bhuvneshwar has taken one wicket, Daryl Mitchell's, in the two T20Is in Christchurch, while conceding 49 and 50 runs. His economy rate of 12.37 is the worst among India's bowlers. India lead the five-match series 2-0, with the third game in Wellington on Tuesday.
"Block the expectation factor out"
"Look, I've got a lot of sympathy for his return," Morkel said at a press conference. "There will be expectation after four years to come out. He's done exceptionally well in the IPL... One is to block the expectation factor out."
He said Bhuvneshwar had trained for a month before his selection but had only limited preparation because of the schedule, and international cricket was "a different beast". The message from the start, he said, was: "Don't chase anything. Just be you... Just be you and connect with that."
Background: the road back
Bhuvneshwar is 36. Before the last T20I against West Indies in Bengaluru earlier this month, he had not played for India in any format since November 2022. He forced his way back with 17 and 28 wickets in back-to-back IPL seasons, as Royal Challengers Bengaluru won consecutive titles.
Why Prince replaced Mayank
India changed their third fast bowler between the two games. Mayank Yadav took 1 for 40 in the first and was replaced by Prince Yadav, who took 1 for 30 in the second.
Morkel said it was "purely a tactical" decision, because Prince is good at bowling yorkers at the death when the ball is wet. "It's definitely not because of performance," he said, adding that a break would give the "still raw" Mayank time to reflect.
Bracing for Wellington's wind
Wellington is windier than usual this week, with the city's waterfront closed after cyclists were blown off their bikes. "I was in the hotel this morning and the whole building was sort of shaking," Morkel said, only half-joking.
He said he told players back in India to "get a very strong fan at home and you walk into the fan". More seriously, he said someone would have to put their hand up and bowl into the wind, "because we can't have four guys bowling with the wind."