Bengaluru, April 5 – Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is on the verge of making history when the defending champions take on Chennai Super Kings on Sunday here at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The right-arm medium pacer, who has 199 wickets in 191 IPL matches, is set to become the second player to reach the 200-wicket milestone. Furthermore, he will be the first fast bowler to achieve this feat.
Only Yuzvendra Chahal has crossed the 200-wicket mark in the tournament, with 224 wickets in 176 matches. The leg-spinner, who surpassed Dwayne Bravo as the highest wicket-taker in IPL history in the 2023 season, reached the milestone in his 153rd match in 2024.
Bhuvneshwar was signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2009, but he went two seasons without playing a game in the tournament. After another three unremarkable seasons with Pune Warriors, he was signed by Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2014 and quickly rose through the ranks to become a key player in their powerplay and death bowling.
He took over 18 wickets in each of his first four seasons, won the purple cap for two consecutive years, in 2016 and 2017, and was instrumental in Sunrisers' only title win in 2016. Although his performances declined in later seasons, he remained the franchise's all-time leading wicket-taker before returning to RCB in 2025.
In IPL 2025, he took 17 wickets in 14 games. While his new-ball bowling remained potent, his death bowling was also effective. Bhuvneshwar took seven wickets in the death overs last season. His crucial double-wicket over in the 17th of the final against Punjab Kings was instrumental in RCB winning a close game and lifting their maiden trophy.
While Hazlewood is unavailable for the initial matches, Bhuvneshwar is RCB's leading bowler. In the season opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad, he only conceded 31 runs, despite the batters launching an aggressive assault.
