Nottinghamshire have turned to India seamer Mukesh Kumar as they look to finish the job and retain their County Championship crown.
The 32-year-old, capped three times in Tests by India and last seen at that level against England in 2024, arrives at Trent Bridge with the champions right in the thick of another title race. Notts sit second in Division One, only four points behind leaders Somerset, with just two matches left. The margins are tight. So are the nerves.
Kumar brings something reassuring: a heavy workload and a heavier ball. All 233 of his first-class wickets have come in India, earned on tracks that often ask bowlers to toil for every edge and misjudgment. Now he steps into the English autumn, where the light fades quicker, the ball moves more, and every spell can tilt a season.
He does not come undercooked. Days before boarding his flight, Kumar delivered 3-62 in the Duleep Trophy final, helping East Zone beat South Zone and lift the title for the first time in 14 years. That sort of performance, in a pressure game, is exactly what Nottinghamshire hope to tap into.
Head coach Peter Moores called him a “quality” addition at “a crucial time of the season” – a concise verdict that tells its own story. This is not a signing for the future. It is a move for now, for the next two games, for the sessions when the ball softens and the title race hardens.
Notts know what is at stake. Somerset are in sight. The table is tight enough that one inspired new-ball spell, one burst from a fresh face, could decide whether the Championship trophy stays in Nottingham or heads down the M5. Mukesh Kumar has been brought in to make sure it does not move.
