Never done before by a pacer: history awaits India’s old horse Bhuvneshwar Kumar today in the RCB-CSK southern derby

The RCB fast bowler just needs one wicket today against CSK. It will be a one-of-a-kind feat. And Jasprit Bumrah is some distance off.

Updated on: Apr 5, 2026, 12:17:36 IST

Written by Prateek Srivastava

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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.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has had an extraordinary shelf life. (Surjeet Yadav)

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.

Also Read: Aussie left-arm pacer reveals it’s Kohli he is hunting for in the IPL: ‘He would certainly be one I'd be happy to take’

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. That season, Bhuvi also claimed the Purple Cap, given to the season's highest wicket-taker. The next year again he bagged the Purple Cap with 26 wickets – to date the only bowler to have done so.

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.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Prateek Srivastava
Prateek Srivastava is a senior sports journalist having been in the profession for two decades now. He started his print career with the India Today Group and later also worked for the Asian Age. In 2009, sensing the wind of change, he switched to the digital media and joined Mobile ESPN. There, he covered the 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2010 Hockey World Cup as a venue reporter. He did plenty of voice-over work too, over there. After leaving Mobile ESPN, Prateek went on to work for Cricketnext, Gocricket and Cricbuzz. At Gocricket (Times Internet Limited), he covered the 2014 T20 World from Bangladesh. There he also received a team leadership award, given at the end of the month. Prateek has also covered the 2016 T20 World Cup in India, this time working for Sportz Interactive. He also worked for Chinese giants Alibaba over two years and led their ""Short News"" content team at UC Browser. While cricket is Prateek’s expertise, he has also done a lot of golf. In fact, he has covered India’s first two European Tour events back in the late noughties. He has also done extensive writing on football having been associated with the Indian Super League for three seasons. Finally, Prateek is a literature aficionado and swears by Philip Roth and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and when he doesn’t joke, he is usually quiet and at work.Read More

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