Today, when defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) host five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, a one-of-a-kind milestone awaits RCB pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
He is just one wicket away from becoming the first fast bowler in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to take 200 wickets. That’s testimony to his longevity and consistency.
The 36-year-old made his IPL debut back in 2011 for Pune Warriors India. The next year, he made his white-ball international debut against Pakistan and impressed one and all with his prodigious swing. In 2014, Bhuvi, as he is fondly called by his teammates, joined Sunrisers Hyderabad, and by this time, he had become an all-format player, having made his Test debut the year before.
At the start of his career, Bhuvi wasn’t quick, and he was heavily reliant on swing. The good thing was that he could swing the ball both ways. But as the teams all over the world and even in the IPL were able to figure him out over time, he changed himself as per the requirements. The first thing he did was that he became quicker. Then he added yorkers to his repertoire, not just the traditional yorkers, but also the ones away from batsmen on the offside.
2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 were Bhuvi’s peak years in the IPL, to all intents and purposes. In 2016, when Sunrisers Hyderabad won the trophy — they haven’t won again since — the right-arm pacer was pivotal to their triumph with 23 wickets in 17 matches. Captain David Warner and Bhuvneshwar were two players who orchestrated the triumph that saw them beat overwhelming favourites Virat Kohli’s RCB in the final.
Lucky for RCB too!
He joined RCB last year and brought them good luck straight away as for the first time in its history, the Bengaluru-based franchise won the IPL. Bhuvi played 14 matches, and although he was a bit expensive with an economy rate of 9.29, he took 17 wickets in RCB’s historic campaign.
As things stand, Yuzvendra Chahal of Punjab Kings is the highest wicket-taker in the IPL with 224 scalps. Bhuvneshwar takes the second spot. Kolkata’s Sunil Narine has 193 wickets to his name, and he should, like Bhuvi, reach the milestone in the ongoing season. Mumbai Indians’ Jasprit Bumrah, meanwhile, needs 17 more wickets to get there. If he plays all matches this season for his team, he should get there, too.
