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Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is close to a big milestone as his franchise prepares to face Chennai Super Kings at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in their second clash of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. He has taken 199 wickets in 191 IPL matches and needs just one more to reach 200. If he gets there, he will become only the second player in IPL history to achieve this and the first fast bowler to do so.
Who picked up more than 200 IPL wickets?
So far, only Yuzvendra Chahal has crossed the 200-wicket mark, with 224 wickets. He reached this milestone in 2024.
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Bhuvneshwar Kumar's IPL journey
Bhuvneshwar started his IPL journey with RCB in 2009 but didn’t get a chance to play in his first two seasons. Later, he had a few quiet seasons with Pune Warriors. His career really picked up after he joined Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2014, where he became a key bowler, especially in the powerplay and at the end of innings.
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He took more than 18 wickets in each of his first four seasons with the team and won the Purple Cap in 2016 and 2017. He also played an important role in helping Sunrisers win their only IPL title in 2016. Even though his form dipped a bit in later years, he remained the team’s leading wicket-taker before moving back to RCB in 2025.
In the 2025 season, he took 17 wickets in 14 matches. His bowling with the new ball remained strong, and he was also effective in the final overs, picking up seven wickets at the death. In the final against Punjab Kings, his two wickets in the 17th over were crucial in helping RCB win a close match and secure their first title.
With Hazlewood missing the early matches, Bhuvneshwar is leading RCB’s bowling attack. In the opening game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, he gave away just 31 runs despite the batters attacking aggressively.
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