“Had no idea whether RCB would go for me or not” - Veteran pacer purchased by Bengaluru franchise for a whopping sum at IPL 2025 auction
Senior Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has expressed his delight at re-joining Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) after more than a decade. The franchise bought him for a whopping sum of INR 10.75 crore at the IPL 2025 auction. The medium pacer revealed that he had no idea whether the Bengaluru-based franchise would go after him.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar said in a video shared by RCB on X (via India Today):
“I had no idea whether RCB would go for me or not. Because the auction is a different dynamic. You don't know what's going to happen. But yes, when they picked me, I got a message from the director, the coach, and everyone else.”
“Honestly, it feels great to be back in RCB. It's not new for me in terms of the environment because I know most of the guys. But of course, there are new guys, I'll meet them. We'll have a chat and we'll play alongside for three months now. I spoke to them. I'm really looking forward to this IPL,” he added.
Bhuvneshwar further added that RCB have covered all their bases in the auction:
“If you look at the bowling attack, I think RCB management has covered all the bases. Experience, skill-wise, pace, bounce, whatever that is. I think they've covered all the bases."
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has second most wickets in IPL among pacers
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is one of the leading wicket-takers in IPL with 181 scalps in 176 games at an economy rate of 7.56. Among pacers, he is only behind Dwayne Bravo, who bagged 183 wickets in 161 matches.
Most wickets in IPL
- Yuzvendra Chahal – 205 wickets
- Piyush Chawla – 192 wickets
- Dwayne Bravo – 183 wickets
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 181 wickets
- Sunil Narine and Ravichandran Ashwin – 180 wickets
He picked up 11 wickets in 16 matches for SunRisers Hyderabad last season.
The UP-based pacer played his first two seasons for RCB in 2009 and 2010 before joining now-defunct Pune Warriors India (2011 to 2013). He then joined SRH in 2014 and stayed there till the 2024 edition of the tournament.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was last seen in action in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, picking up 11 wickets in nine games at an economy rate of 6.03.