India’s veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, in his first professional cricket appearance since the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 final, bagged two wickets in the Uttar Pradesh Premier League 2025. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) pacer’s strikes in the penultimate over went in vain as Noida Kings chased down the target of 166 with one ball to spare and two wickets in hand.
Defending a target of 166, Lucknow Falcons’ Bhuvneshwar started with five consecutive dot balls. He conceded a boundary towards third man off the sixth ball of his first over. In his second over, he took a beating, getting hit for a couple of sixes and a four in the 19-run over.
Bhuvneshwar was brought back into the attack in the 17th over. He conceded just five runs from the over against set batters Karn Sharma and Prashant Veer. In the penultimate over, he dismissed Mohammad Sharim who took the aerial route. He conceded a six off Veer's bat over long-on. Then, he knocked over Yuvraj Singh for a single-digit score. But Veer held his nerves and hit another six in the final over helping his side get over the line.
Naman bags four-fer, Priyam’s 73 in vain
In his quota of four overs, Bhuvneshwar conceded 37 runs and bagged a couple of wickets. Noida Kings' Veer remained not out for 48 runs from 41 balls. Earlier, left-arm pacer Naman Tiwari caused a top-order collapse as he registered a four-wicket haul. Priyam Garg rescued Lucknow Falcons with his 42-ball 73 laced with four fours and six sixes.
Srikkanth wants Bhuvneshwar back in T20I squad
Former India chief selector Kris Srikkanth has also backed Bhuvneshwar to make T20I comeback. His last T20I appearance was against England in the T20 World Cup 2022 semifinal. He has performed well in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but hasn’t been able to earn his place in the T20I squad.
"I might think about it [bringing Bhuvneshwar back] because he's been doing brilliantly. In all fairness, yes he did not bowl well in the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal, but he did well before that. He hasn't played for India after that, but has been doing very well in the IPL.
"I don't know why people don't look at him at all. Bhuvi is an outstanding new ball bowler. I think Bhuvi should be looked at very seriously," the 65-year-old added.