NEW DELHI: The Royal Challengers Bengaluru coaching staff huddled in a room with a projector, making plans for what was ahead. With RCB Director of Cricket Mo Bobat taking notes and hovering in the room, Mentor and Batting coach Dinesh Karthik made a bold proclamation — much to the surprise of Head Coach Andy Flower. As the former Zimbabwe cricketer expressed concerns about Bhuvneshwar Kumar‘s fitness, DK defiantly told the room: “Bhuvi, just for the record, I’m convinced he’s the best bowler India has after (Jasprit) Bumrah even today.” The statement stumped Flower but Karthik stuck to his guns and added, “Bhuvneshwar Kumar, he’s the best T20 bowler.”Two years of association and two titles later, Flower echoes the effusive — and “spot on” — praise Karthik bestowed upon Bhuvi. So much so, Flower believes the success in the last two years might not have been possible without the seamer’s contributions.“Bhuvi has been outstanding for these last two seasons. And it’s arguable that we wouldn’t have had our success at all over the last two seasons if he hadn’t been producing performances under pressure repeatedly that he’s done over the last two seasons,” said Flower during a virtual interaction after RCB joined Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in winning consecutive IPL trophies.In the last two IPL seasons, Bhuvi has taken a combined 45 wickets, including 28 wickets this season. It is his best IPL performance, going close to his IPL 2016 (23 wickets) and IPL 2017 (26 wickets) tallies. In the last two seasons, no one has been as lethal as Bhuvi with Prasidh Krishna (41 wickets) coming closest. Among the bowlers who’ve bowled at least 100 overs, his economy (8.55) is only marginally behind Noor Ahmed (8.27).This season he finished just one short of eventual Purple Cap winner Kagiso Rabada. The 36-year-old was more economical and had a better average than his Gujarat Titans rival and finished with best figures of 4/23 against the Mumbai Indians. The four wickets that day in Raipur were no small names, either: Ryan Rickelton, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma.“One of the privileged positions that Mo and I find ourselves in is we watch training very closely. We’re very closely involved in every training session, and it’s an absolute pleasure and privilege to watch guys like Virat (Kohli) train, for instance, or Tim David’s power, or indeed Bhuvi’s mastery of his art. And I call it art because that control that he’s got out of his fingers, and what he can do with the ball, and the control of the ball and where he wants it to go is really a pleasure to watch,” explained Flower when talking about what Bhuvi brings to the table.“I admire him greatly. He’s grown that skill over the years. He’s kept himself fit. If you just look at last night as an example, the ball wasn’t swinging that much, and he used that surprise whippy bouncer of his to great effect.“So he probably has surprised me a little with his level of skill, his calmness under pressure, his competitiveness, and his positive effect on everyone around him. You know, whether that’s in a preparation meeting or a debrief or around the training ground.“And most certainly out there in the middle where he’s influencing people around him, not just with his words, but with his demeanour and with his actions. That’s incredibly impressive and has surprised me about how outstanding he is,” continued Flower.On Sunday, RCB beat Gujarat Titans by five wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad following an all-round shower by the bowlers curtailed the Shubman Gill-led side. Virat Kohli steered the chase with an unbeaten 75 runs from 42 balls, including hitting the winning runs.
