Bhuvneshwar Kumar slams media reports on his absence from India's Test squad; here's what he said

After missing out on the Test team, India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is expected to be included in the limited-over setup, which is scheduled to fly to Sri Lanka for a white-ball tournament in the month of July.

India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar was not included in the 20-man squad for England tour. (BCCI/File Photo)

India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Saturday debunked all the reports, which mentioned that the 31-year-old is not willing to play red-ball cricket anymore. The right-arm medium pacer, who has not been included in India's upcoming tour to England, took to Twitter to rubbish the media reports claiming the same. 

"There have been articles about me not wanting to play Test cricket. Just to clarify, I have always prepared myself for all three formats irrespective of the team selection and will continue to do the same. Suggestion - please don’t write your assumptions based on “sources”!" Bhuvneshwar wrote in his tweet. 

There have been articles about me not wanting to play Test cricket. Just to clarify, I have always prepared myself for all three formats irrespective of the team selection and will continue to do the same.
Suggestion - please don’t write your assumptions based on “sources”! — Bhuvneshwar Kumar (@BhuviOfficial) May 15, 2021

India had named a 20-member Test squad last week for the tour of England during which the team will play the World Test Championship final against New Zealand in June as well as five Test matches against the hosts in August-September. 

Meanwhile, the seamer is expected to be included in India's limited-over setup, which is scheduled to fly to Sri Lanka for white-ball tournament in the month of July. 

India’s squad for WTC Final and England Tests: 

Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper; subject to fitness clearance).

Standby players: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Arzan Nagwaswalla.