Bhuvneshwar Kumar is leading the highest wicket-taker tally in the ongoing IPL 2026 season. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) pacer has now 21 wickets from 11 games for an economy rate of only 7.47. Over many emerging bowlers and some star foreign pacers, the 36-year-old Indian pacer is flourishing.
Ahead of the season, some of the former cricketers, like AB de Villiers, had some doubts over the RCB pacer because of his age. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is well past the mid-thirties and has dropped some quickness as well.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is in a fiery form for RCB
Kumar has been proving that age is just a number and class is permanent. He is not only taking wickets, but also delivering very economical spells. Because of the fiery form, some of the cricket fans believe that Bhuvneshwar Kumar deserves to play for Team India again.
The pacer’s last match for India was a T20 International (T20I) against New Zealand in Napier on November 22, 2022. Since that match, he has not represented India in any format.
The seamer has stopped making long-term plans
Bhuvneshwar Kumar himself is not thinking about a national team comeback yet. In a recent video shared by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, he reveals that he has stopped thinking too much about the future, and he is happy with his current role with RCB. He recently recorded his 200th IPL game as a fast bowler, which is rare in the league. Many batters have played over two hundred matches in the IPL, but, as a pacer, Kumar is the first to achieve this.
“I am not thinking about India’s comeback. It has been many years since I stopped keeping or making long-term goals, because whenever I did that, it never worked for me. I am happy that I have played 200 matches and taken so many wickets, in the powerplay and at the death. I think it is all a reward for what I have done over the years.
“There have been good years and bad years. Honestly, at this point in time, I am not feeling anything special. Of course, I would be lying if I said that I would not feel it later on. Once I stop playing, I think these will be memories that will come in handy later. But at this point, for me, I think it is very normal,” Bhuvneshwar said in a video posted by RCB.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar talks about his workload management
He highlights the workload management behind his recent success. As he is not playing for the national side, he got a good amount of time for recovery sessions and long breaks as well, which helped him a lot to develop his performance.
I know 2026 is going well. I’m getting wickets, but I’m doing all the same things I was doing earlier as well. Of course, I can say the training has been a bit more, or maybe some things have improved since I haven’t been playing for the country. One of the best things is that I get quite a long break after the IPL. I think I play so much cricket that I stay in touch, and I also get enough of a break that I have time to do other things,” he said.
