Bhuvneshwar Kumar hits the right notes

Inswing. Outswing. Outswing. Inswing. And now the bouncer. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is quite the bowler when he's on song. It begs the questions, why is he not on song more often?

Rohit Sharma has been lauded time and again by Virat Kohli as the player who can change a Test match in just one session. It was one of the reasons he was picked ahead of Cheteshwar Pujara for the third Test in St Lucia. It was the least expected change that India had made. The other two changes, albeit surprising, did not really raise eyebrows the way Rohit Sharma's did. Ravindra Jadeja for Amit Mishra was one. Bhuvneshwar Kumar for Umesh Yadav.

Yadav had done decently well in the series, but on a pitch that was expected to assist his ilk the most, he was dropped for a slower, skiddier, swing bowler. Bhuvneshwar, however, turned out to be the player who could change the game in one innings. And the vindication of his selection would have had his captain smiling from ear to ear.

At Lunch on the penultimate day, the chances of the game ending in anything but a draw looked extremely weak. India had scored 353. West Indies were well placed at 202/3. And rain had taken away one entire day. By then, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had bowled 14 overs for 19 runs and no wickets.

He was brought on to bowl immediately after the break, and he bowled two consecutive maiden overs. The usually free-flowing Jermaine Blackwood was kept tied up at one end, and he finally had his reward. A beautifully bowled outswinger that had the batmsen edging to slip.

The outswinger was his stock ball. He kept using it over and over. So much that Marlon Samuels had no idea the inswinger was coming, and chopped the ball onto his stumps.

Another inswinger, another wicket. Goes wide of the stumps and bowls in a straight delivery that Alzarri Joseph edges to slip. And finally caps off an incredible spell with the short ball that takes the edge on the way to Shikhar Dhawan at first slip.

Bang

Bang

Bang

Bang

Drop

Drop

Bang

In a spell that lasted 8.3 overs after Lunch, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had changed the match around spectacularly. He had put India in a position from which they would have to do really badly to lose.

That Bhuvneshwar was a match-winner as a swing bowler was quite evident from the start. But along the way, the bite, zip and swing all seemed to disappear. He had made his T20I, ODI and Test debut all in the space of two months from December 2012. Born in Meerut in 1990, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, did enough to impress the selectors and make his senior India appearance as a 22-year-old.

His ability to swing the ball, mostly away from the right-hander, and take early wickets made him an instant hit. He made it to the India Test side to England and impressed with the ball, in an otherwise dismal tour for the team. He even won the Polly Umrigar award for best international cricketer in 2014.

But then tragedy struck, and his career came tumbling down. He suffered a severe ankle injury and had to spend time away from the game. When he was back, he was called in to the Test side to play against Australia in Sydney. He looked a totally different bowler, giving away 122 runs for no wickets during his 34-over effort. More conspicuously, his biggest weapon, swing, had disappeared.

Later in 2015, he played the ODIs at home against South Africa. Encouraged by MS Dhoni, Bhuvneshwar Kumar tried to change his style and become a more hit-the-deck bowler that the captain felt would be a more effective style on Indian wickets.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar came unstuck. He gave away more than 60 runs in four of the five ODIs, with the last one costing 106 runs and tons of criticism. He knew something was wrong and wanted to fix it.

"Later on when I watched the videos, I got to know why it's not swinging, but I never agreed with anyone that my swing was lost. So, that was a bad patch," he would later admit. "There were some basic things (I was not doing). (Stuff like) 'wrist position'. The way I was running, I was not in good alingment. Those were the small things that I was not doing the things needed for swinging the ball."

All through these failings, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has come out stronger. The things he tried, although failures then, helped him add a new dimension to his bowling. During his initial days, Bhuvneshwar was a bowler who could swing the ball, but not one who could really surprise the batsmen with his pace. Then, he was accused of trying to increase his pace and thus losing his swing.

It was something he worked hard on fixing. "You know, when I started playing international cricket I was bowling in the 130s. When it comes to Tests, when I made my debut, I knew I needed to increase my pace. In ODIs, you can somehow survive with the swing and all, but when it comes to Tests, and the ball gets old you need pace. I'm not saying I will bowl 140+, but you need that pace which can really trouble the batsmen with the swing. Yes, I wanted to increase the pace, but not cost of swing. To gain that pace, I have worked in the gym and I have been training a lot," he had said ahead of the Test series.

Now, he's the big package rolled into one. He's fitter, stronger more wily. And India stand to gain a lot from him.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is quite the bowler when he's on song. It begs the questions, why is he not on song more often?