Bhuvneshwar Kumar (ANI Photo) RAIPUR: On a December evening at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium in 2012, a young pacer from Uttar Pradesh made his debut in international cricket with a dream T20I debut against Pakistan. Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled the new ball with remarkable control and returned figures of 3/9. More than 13 years later, in a format that has tilted more towards the batsmen, Bhuvneshwar remains not only relevant but among the most effective as he has shown in the IPL this season. Once a young swing-bowler prospect, he now studies craft, discipline and constant discovery.At 36, he has 21 wickets from 11 matches and leads the IPL wicket charts this season, a significant marker in a competition where totals above 200 no longer feel safe and bowlers are challenged with every over. For Bhuvneshwar, survival in modern T20 cricket has come down to one thing: constant development.
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Even as the younger generation of fearless batsmen continues to redefine T20 cricket, Bhuvneshwar remains confident that the bowlers will still find ways to respond. “The batsmen do something, then the bowlers develop. That’s how cricket has always worked,” he said.Bhuvneshwar’s RCB journey has also come to an end. He was around the franchise setup as a young domestic cricketer in 2009 and 2010 before returning in 2025 as one of the most experienced pacers in the country. “Everything changed for me,” he said. “I was a domestic player at the time. For the first time in the set-up, I was just looking at the glamorous side of him. I was nervous looking at the other players, the overseas players. But now it’s changed a lot because now it’s a big part of me being an older player in the team.”
