As Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the 36-year-old RCB pacer, bagged 4/23 in his 4 overs on Sunday against MI, he became the purple cap holder in IPL 2026, once again. As of now, the veteran bowler has 21 wickets to his name in 11 matches, wherein, in 43 overs, he has given away 321 runs, at an economy of 7.46.
He picked the key wickets of Ryan Rickelton, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav for a golden duck, and then Tilak Varma, who was batting on 57. This is also no flash-in-the-pan success – he had been performing in about every match for his team, the most memorable one being 3/5 vs DC in Delhi.
| Bowler | Wickets | Economy | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 21 | 7.46 | 15.28 |
| Anshul Kamboj | 19 | 9.20 | 19.21 |
| Prince Yadav | 16 | 8.17 | 20.93 |
This consistent show only tells us that maybe not Prince Yadav & Anshul Kamboj, but Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the success story of IPL 2026. While the youngsters are said to have done enough to get an India call-up, one only feels that, with this kind of showing, Bhuvi too deserves a comeback in the side, notwithstanding the format — after having last played for the national side in November 2022.
Just for comparison sake, Prince has 16 in 11 and the economy is at 8.17. And for Kamboj — he has picked 19 at an economy of 9.20. So, the very first argument is thrown out of the window already. And now let us just focus on Bhuvi. Since the time he has been out of the Indian team, he has always delivered.
In 2023, for SRH, in 14 matches, he picked 16 wickets — including a fifer, where his economy was 8.33. The next year, in 14 game for the same team, he picked 11 wickets at an economy of 9.35. Last season where RCB won their first title, he played an instrumental role — picking up 17 wickets in 14.
| Phase | Balls | Economy | Wickets | Dot% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Powerplay | 144 | 7.00 | 12 | 51.4 |
| Middle overs | 42 | 8.43 | 2 | 26.2 |
| Death overs | 72 | 7.83 | 7 | 25.0 |
Going deeper into what he has done this year — the man can bowl in the powerplay, the middle overs, and at the death. In the PP, he has picked up 12 wickets, where his economy has been only 7, and the dot percentage is at 51.4. In the middle overs, having bowled 7 overs, he has gone for only 59 runs, also picking up 2 wickets. And in death, he has been miserly, bowling 72 balls for 94 runs, and picking up 7 wickets in 9 matches. An excellent bowler for all situations of the match.
Who does Bhuvi replace in Team India?
Well, the T20I side just won the World Cup a few months back, and there is no such vacancy at the moment, but the very fact that Jasprit Bumrah — India’s spearhead is not going to play all the matches means the team can utilise this veteran. Team India’s calendar is full for the next few months — as is always the case – and could be tried in the ODIs vs Afghanistan in June.
The 50-over World Cup is only a year away, and why not him? Even if not the ODIs, the T20I calendar is also packed. India plays Ireland in late June and then England for 5 T20Is in July. Post that, there are the T20Is in Zimbabwe, followed by the West Indies series in October, and the Sri Lanka series in December.
Are the selectors noticing?
Well, here comes the biggest but… are the selectors keen on giving an out-of-favour player a chance? It all depends on chief selector Ajit Agarkar and what feedback he gets from RP Singh, who was present in Raipur when Bhuvneshwar Kumar made Mumbai’s top order dance to his swing.
The number of matches India plays, the players’ performance, wicket-taking ability, and fitness – none of them are concerns as of now with Bhuvneshwar Kumar. But in the end, only the willingness to rope him in matters. Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin wants him back in the T20I side. In the past, selectors have given a second chance to cricketers, including Ashwin in ODIs and Karun Nair in Tests.
“I would love to see him being considered for the T20I side. Tick with the new ball, able to complete the death overs nicely, and if you need a six under pressure, he’s hammering that as well in the toughest part of the ground. That was proper Test-match bowling after he realised there was something in the surface. He keeps testing you as an opening batter. To dismiss Rohit Sharma with that peach, a slower ball that just swung, was quite incredible. And later on, he was selfless enough to execute the yorker when he could have gone for a fourth wicket. Extremely happy for him,” Ashwin advocated on JioHotstar’s ‘Google Search AI Mode Match Centre Live’.
