IPL 2017: No Matter How Fast You Are, You Can't Afford To Lose The Swing, Says Bhuvneshwar Kumar

India seamer and the ongoing Indian Premier League's purple cap holder Bhuvneshwar Kumar stated that will never compromise on his swing at the cost of additional pace on Thursday. Bhuvneshwar, who has taken 16 wickets so far for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, believes his swing is his biggest strength and attributed his success to hard work during practice sessions. "How you practice in nets matters a lot. If you bowl good yorkers in nets and come up with good variation, it helps your on-field performance," the 27-year-old pacer said in Chandigarh.

"In the series against South Africa my pace had increased but swing was compromised. But this was a turning point for me as I realised that no matter how fast you are, you cannot afford to lose the swing. I worked on this aspect and now I am happy that I have both the speed and swing in my bowling," Bhuvneshwar Kumar added.

Defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad will start as favourites when they take on the struggling-for-survival Kings XI Punjab in an IPL match on Friday.

Bowling has complemented Sunrisers' batsmen with Bhuvneshwar (16 wickets) and young Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan (10 wickets) proving their mettle with the ball. "I think in T20 things are related to pressure and if you handle it well you are on top of your game. I think about process and not too much about results," Bhuvneshwar said, who captured his first five-wicket haul in IPL earlier in the season when Sunrisers beat KXIP by five runs.

(With PTI inputs)