3 Team India players who returned after prolonged absence
What's the story
Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is set to play his first international for India in nearly four years. Bhuvneshwar, whose career was deemed over, was surprisingly recalled to India's T20I side for the impending New Zealand tour. Despite faring well in two successive Indian Premier League (IPL) seasons, Bhuvneshwar had not quite expected an India call-up like this. Here are the Indian players who returned after a prolonged absence.
#1
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Bhuvneshwar last played a T20I in November 2022 before returning to India's squad after nearly four years.
Interestingly, his last international for India came in New Zealand, and he has been picked for the country's 2026 tour.
The pacer, having taken 90 T20I wickets, forced the selectors to reconsider him with his impressive Indian Premier League (IPL) numbers in the last two seasons.
#2
Dinesh Karthik
Despite his immense talent, Dinesh Karthik always had a stop-start run for India across formats.
The wicketkeeper-batter returned to India's ODI side in 2017 after more than three years. His previous ODI outing was against Afghanistan in the 2014 Asia Cup.
With his exploits in the IPL, Karthik later became a successful T20 finisher, reviving his international career.
#3
Varun Chakravarthy
Varun Chakravarthy's mystery spin emerged as an X-factor in the 2020 Indian Premier League, where he took 17 wickets.
The Indian spinner made headlines as he dismissed some prominent names. This earned him the coveted Team India berth for the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup.
However, he was dropped following India's lackluster campaign.
Chakravarthy later returned to the setup after missing 86 T20Is and is now India's mainstay spinner.