Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a pacer for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), is slated to participate in his eighth season with the Orange Army in the IPL 2022. Bhuvneshwar joined the club in 2014 following three IPL seasons with the now-defunct Pune Warriors India (2011-13).
Bhuvneshwar would collaborate with the likes of Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma to create a devastating speed bowling assault in the squad during his early years at SRH. Bhuvneshwar, who can swing the ball both ways, gained notoriety after dismissing great Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar for a duck in domestic cricket for the first time.
In consecutive IPL seasons, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was awarded the Purple hat.
Over the years, the Uttar Pradesh spinner has also performed well for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. In the IPL 2016 final, he bowled the last over against Royal Challengers Bangalore, defending 18 runs as SRH won their maiden championship under David Warner’s leadership.
With 23 wickets at an economy rate of 7.42 in IPL 2016, Bhuvneshwar was the highest wicket-taker, and he will be the only bowler to retain the ‘Purple cap’ in IPL 2017. In IPL 2017, the SRH bowler took 26 wickets at an economy rate of 7.05 and an average of 14.19 in 14 games.
Bhuvneshwar’s performance in the IPL has plummeted dramatically after a series of injuries. The 32-year-old could only take six wickets in 11 games last season and also lost runs in the slog overs.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar needs eight more wickets to reach 150 in the IPL.
In the IPL 2022 auction, SRH re-purchased Bhuvneshwar for INR 4.20 crore. In 132 IPL games, the Uttar Pradesh seamer has 142 wickets and is only eight wickets away from entering an elusive record list.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar will become the first Indian bowler to reach 150 IPL wickets, and the third overall, after Lasith Malinga of Sri Lanka and West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo of the West Indies, who both have 170 wickets.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be the sixth Indian bowler to achieve the 150-wicket mark, with Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, and Amit Mishra being the other three. Ravichandran Ashwin of the Rajasthan Royals is also close to achieving the feat; the Tamil Nadu star has 145 IPL scalps in 167 games.