Veteran Indian fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has made history by becoming the second-highest Indian wicket-taker in T20 cricket.
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru pacer reached the milestone during Match 46 of IPL 2025 against Delhi Capitals in Bengaluru, when he picked up his first wicket of the game.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar Makes History in T20 Cricket
With that wicket, Bhuvneshwar went past Piyush Chawla’s record of 319 T20 wickets. He ended the match with impressive figures of 3 wickets for 33 runs.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, playing his 304th T20 match, has now taken 322 wickets, according to ESPNcricinfo.
Among Indian bowlers in T20 cricket, he is second only to Yuzvendra Chahal, who has 373 wickets.
Bhuvneshwar has been very consistent in T20s, with a bowling average of 24.88 and an economy rate of 7.30. He has taken five five-wicket hauls and five four-wicket hauls in his T20 career.
Bhuvi’s IPL Journey: From RCB to Sunrisers Hyderabad and Back to RCB
He started his IPL journey with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) but didn’t get to play any matches for them. Later, he played for Pune Warriors India, and then moved to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), where he took 157 wickets with an average of 26.81.
In the IPL 2025 mega-auction, RCB bought him for ₹10.75 crore.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has now become the second-highest wicket-taker in IPL history, going past Piyush Chawla’s tally of 192 wickets.
He reached 193 wickets in 185 matches, with an average of 27.01 and an economy rate of 7.6. His IPL record includes two five-wicket hauls and two four-wicket hauls.
Back-to-Back Purple Caps: Bhuvneshwar’s IPL Legacy
Interestingly, Bhuvneshwar is also the only bowler to have won the Purple Cap in back-to-back seasons – in 2016 and 2017. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who last played a T20I in 2022, remains India’s fourth-highest wicket-taker in T20I cricket.
He has taken 90 wickets from 87 T20Is, with an excellent average of 19.90. He is only behind Arshdeep Singh (99), Yuzvendra Chahal (96), and Hardik Pandya (94).
Bhuvneshwar’s economy rate is also impressive at 6.96. In T20Is, he has recorded three four-wicket hauls and two five-wicket hauls.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar took the important wicket of KL Rahul in the 17th over, who had scored 41 runs from 39 balls. He then dismissed Ashutosh Sharma in the same over.
In the last over of Delhi Capitals’ innings, Bhuvneshwar also took the wicket of Tristan Stubbs, who made 34 runs.
According to ESPNcricinfo, Bhuvneshwar now has 23 wickets in 23 matches against DC, with an average of 30.08.
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