India vs New Zealand: Handle Bhuvneshwar Kumar with care, the Kiwi way

New Zealand pacers Trent Boult and Tim Southee are a treat to watch in an era where bowlers' only job is increasingly to try and contain batsmen than getting them out. India, too, have a bowling artist, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has mastered the art of swing over last few years.

However, a big difference between the approach of these two teams is when it comes to preserving these rare commodities for the future.

During the days of former Kiwis skipper Brendon McCullum, Boult and Southee were more exposed to Test cricket than the shorter formats. The duo left everyone struggling around the world with their swinging deliveries.

Forget England and Australia, even on typically slow sub-continent wickets, Bolt made the life of a batsman like Sachin Tendulkar tough with his in-swingers in the longer format.

New Zealand bowling coach Shane Jurgensen attributed Bolt's success to his extraordinary fitness.

"He has worked hard on his fitness and (was) probably the fittest in squad leading into this series," said Jurgensen.

Bhuvi, on other hand, is the only Indian bowler in recent years to have increased his speed after getting into the national team. That said, he didn't taste immediate success in international cricket as he lost his swing in his effort to increase speed.

"When I increased my bowling speed, I didn't know how to tackle it. It was team's bowling coach (Bharat Arun) who handled me well then," Bhuvneshwar said while recalling the time when he was dropped from the squad.

India, too, need to address the workload of Bhuvi, and it should be the management's prerogative to make the best use of their most potent shorter format bowler's ability while also conserving him for Test cricket.

"It's not my job to decide resting myself or not, it's up to the team management and the BCCI to take a call," Bhuvi said.

Take the example of Bolt himself. The left-armer believes he is operating at his full capacity because he is coming off a four-month long break after the Kiwis' disappointing Champions Trophy campaign in England.

Jurgensen said: "It's tough for us, coming from 10 degrees to 30-odd degrees and the humidity. I think the only way to prepare for it is to be as fit as you can."