Bhuvneshwar Kumar made his return to T20Is in the fifth match against West Indies on Saturday, making it the joint-longest gap between two T20Is for India.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar marks T20I return after 1,425 days
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was added to the India T20I squad for the last match of the five-game series against the West Indies after Arshdeep Singh picked up a shoulder injury. Both the quicks were eventually picked in the XI for the match at Bengaluru, which had to be abandoned due to rain after only 7.4 overs were bowled in India's innings.
Though Bhuvneshwar couldn't bowl in the game, it marked his return to an India XI after 1,425 days and 104 matches. Among full members, this is the fourth-most T20Is missed between two appearances. Notably, the veteran quick is also part of the India squad for the upcoming T20I series against New Zealand.
Most T20I matches between appearances (Full Members)
| Player | Team | From | To | Matches Missed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graeme Cremer | Zimbabwe | 6 Feb 2018 | 18 Nov 2025 | 126 |
| Khary Pierre | West Indies | 18 Jan 2020 | 27 Oct 2025 | 110 |
| Khaleel Ahmed | India | 10 Nov 2019 | 6 Jul 2024 | 104 |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | India | 22 Nov 2022 | 17 Oct 2026 | 104 |
| Delorn Thomas | West Indies | 13 Feb 2013 | 13 Dec 2021 | 102 |
| Rony Talukdar | Bangladesh | 7 Jul 2015 | 9 Mar 2023 | 100 |
| Hussain Talat | Pakistan | 14 Feb 2021 | 24 Jul 2025 | 100 |
| Matt Henry | New Zealand | 3 Jan 2017 | 8 Apr 2023 | 93 |
| Sahibzada Farhan | Pakistan | 31 Oct 2018 | 19 Jan 2024 | 92 |
| Johnson Charles | West Indies | 27 Sep 2016 | 5 Oct 2022 | 89 |
Also read: ICC men’s T20I team rankings: Updated table after India vs West Indies 2-2 draw
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