Bhuvneshwar Kumar took his 200th wicket in the IPL when he dismissed Chennai Super Kings batter Ayush Mhatre in Bengaluru on Sunday. He’s only the second bowler to reach the milestone after legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who got there in 2024 and has 224 wickets to date.
Only four other bowlers have taken 200-plus wickets in a T20 competition – all in England’s T20 Blast – Danny Briggs (268), Samit Patel (230), Chris Wood (210) and David Payne (210).
Bhuvneshwar’s economy rate in the IPL is 7.69, which is impressive for a career spanning 16 seasons. He is one of four bowlers with multiple five-wicket hauls in the IPL and has bowled the joint highest number of maiden overs.
Excelling in key phases
Bhuvneshwar has taken 81 wickets in the powerplay overs of the IPL, the most in this phase. Twenty seven of those came while bowling the first over of the innings, only behind Trent Boult’s tally of 32.
He has largely been tough to attack in this phase, boasting an economy rate of 6.53 in the powerplay. Only three bowlers to have bowled 100-plus overs in the powerplay have a better economy than Bhuvneshwar.
At the death (overs 17-20), Bhuvneshwar has taken 93 wickets, only behind Dwayne Bravo’s 102. His economy rate in this phase is 9.52, the fifth best among the 16 bowlers with a minimum of 90 overs.
A decade for the Sunrisers
Bhuvneshwar made his IPL debut in 2011 for Pune Warriors India, where he spent three seasons. But it was at Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) that he made a name for himself. He spent 11 seasons with SRH, from 2014 to 2024, playing 145 matches and taking 157 wickets.
No other player has represented SRH in even 100 matches, and no one else has 100-plus wickets for the franchise in the IPL. Only three other bowlers have taken 150-plus wickets for a franchise – Sunil Narine (193) for Kolkata Knight Riders, and Jasprit Bumrah (183) and Lasith Malinga (170) for Mumbai Indians. Bhuvneshwar 48 wickets in Hyderabad are also the most for any bowler at a home venue in the IPL.
A peak like no other
Bhuvneshwar operated on a different level between 2014 and 2017, taking 87 wickets in just 59 matches, 17 more than the second highest. He claimed the Purple Cap for the first time in 2016 with 23 scalps, bowling SRH to their maiden IPL title. He bettered his returns in 2017, taking 26 wickets and defending his Purple Cap. To date, Bhuvneshwar is the only one to top the IPL wickets charts in successive seasons, while Dwayne Bravo and Harshal Patel are the only others to do it twice in a career.
His economy rate in those four seasons was only 7.25, which ranks fourth among the 28 players to have bowled 100-plus overs. All three with a better economy than Bhuvneshwar were spinners. He struck once every 15.3 balls, which is also fourth best among 29 players with 30-plus wickets during his peak.
Bhuvneshwar’s bunnies
No batter has been dismissed as often as Ajinkya Rahane by Bhuvneshwar in the IPL. Rahane got out to Bhuvneshwar seven times in 117 balls, while scoring only 104 runs. Parthiv Patel is next with six dismissals in just 68 balls.
Bhuvneshwar has claimed major scalps quite often, having dismissed the likes of Virat Kohli, Shane Watson, Sanju Samson and Shubman Gill on four occasions each. Watson in particular failed to get going against him, scoring only 78 off 88 balls, while Gill also scored only 66 off 64 of Bhuvneshwar.
