New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s coaching staff huddled in a room with a projector and planned ahead. RCB Director of Cricket Mo Bobbitt taking notice and hovering in the room, mentor and batting coach Dinesh Karthik Made a bold announcement – much to the surprise of the head coach Andy Flower. As the former Zimbabwean cricketer expressed concern. Bhuvneshwar KumarOn K’s fitness, DK told the room: “Bhuvi, just for the record, I believe he is still India’s best bowler after (Jasprit) Bumrah.” The statement stumped Flower but Karthik stuck to his guns and added, “Bhuvneshwar Kumar, he is the best T20 bowler.”Two years of association and two titles later, Flower echoes Karthik’s — and “spot on” — praise for Bhuvi. So much so, Flower believes the success over the past two years would not have been possible without Semmer’s support.“Bhavi has been outstanding these last two seasons. And it is arguable that we would not have had the success in the last two seasons if he had not repeatedly produced the performances under pressure that he has done in the last two seasons,” Flower said during a virtual chat after RCB’s IPL wins over Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kitty Kings.In the last two IPL seasons, Bhuvi has taken a total of 45 wickets, including 28 this season. This is his best IPL performance coming close to his IPL 2016 (23 wickets) and IPL 2017 (26 wickets). In the last two seasons, nobody has been as lethal as Bhuvi with Prasad Krishna (41 wickets) coming the closest. Among bowlers with at least 100 overs, his economy (8.55) is marginally behind Noor Ahmed (8.27).That season he finished just one short of eventual Purple Cap winner Kagiso Rabada. The 36-year-old was more economical and averaged better than his Gujarat Titans rivals and finished with best figures of 4/23 against Mumbai Indians. Four wickets on the day in Raipur were no small names, either: Ryan Rickleton, Rohit Sharma, Surya Kumar Yadav and Tilak Verma.“A privileged position that Mo and I find ourselves in is that we watch training very closely. We are very closely involved in every training session, and it’s an absolute joy and honor to see people like Virat (Kohli) train, for example, or Tim David’s strength, or indeed Bhuvi’s mastery of his craft. And I call it art because the 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 joy to watch,” Flower said, explaining what Bhuvi brings to the table.“I admire him a lot. He’s developed 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 as much, and he used his amazing whippy bouncer very well.“So he’s probably surprised me a little bit with his skill level, his composure under pressure, his competitiveness, and the positive impact he has on everyone around him.“And definitely in the middle where he’s influencing the people around him, not just with his words, but with his behavior and his actions. It’s incredibly inspiring and it just amazes me how wonderful he is,” Flower continued.On Sunday, RCB defeated Gujarat Titans by five wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad after an all-round shower of bowlers held off the Shubman Gill-led side. Virat Kohli He scored an unbeaten 75 off 42 balls which included the winning runs.
