Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Suresh Raina slams fifty, Bhuvneshwar Kumar picks three for 22

Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up three wickets for 22 runs, and Suresh Raina slammed a fifty on their return to competitive cricket in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Kumar's last international assignment was the third T20I against the West Indies in Mumbai on December 11, 2019.

India fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar made a return to competitive cricket in Sunday's Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy match against Punjab at Alur (2) in Bengaluru.

 

Uttar Pradesh lost to Punjab by 11 runs by Kumar impressed with the ball, returning figures of three for 22 at an economy rate of 5.50. Kumar had been out of action since IPL 2020, where he was ruled out due to a thigh injury he picked during the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Chennai Super Kings.

Kumar's last international assignment was the third T20I against the West Indies in Mumbai on December 11, 2019, which India won by 67 runs. He had figures of two for 41 in that match.

Suresh Raina.

 

Raina comes good

Meanwhile, Suresh Raina slammed an unbeaten 56 off 50 balls in Sunday's game against Punjab. His knock was studded with three sixes and two fours. It was the first time Raina was in action since pulling out of IPL 2020 due to personal reasons. Raina's previous competitive game was over 18 months ago during the IPL final in 2019.

The eight IPL sides have time until January 21 to submit their list of retentions and Raina, along with Chennai Super Kings, would hope he has a good outing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy league phase, which ends on January 19.