Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is an Indian cricket player who plays in all formats of the sport. He plays cricket for Uttar Pradesh and the Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise in the Indian Premier League. Bhuvi is a medium-fast right-arm bowler who can swing the ball in both directions and is considered as one of the death bowling specialists. He is also a valuable lower-order batsman.

A 19-year-old Bhuvneshwar Kumar came to the limelight after knocking Sachin Tendulkar for a duck, the first ever duck in the little master’s domestic first-class cricket career.

After making his debut against Pakistan cricket team, Bhuvneshwar was picked for the 2013 Champions League. After this, he continued to be a regular part of the national side. In 2014, Bhuvi got his name up in the Lord’s honours board. He was expected to be leading India’s pace attack in the 2015 World Cup but was unable to play more than a single match due to fitness issues. But he came back strongly and performed well in the 2017 Champions Trophy.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar: Along the Years 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar Records 

• Bhuvneshwar Kumar scored 38 runs against Australia in 2013, the highest by an Indian number 10 on debut.

• He is also the first Indian number 9 player to get three half-centuries in one series.

• The only bowler to dismiss Sachin Tendulkar for a duck in first-class cricket.

• Most economical spell in T20I, with 3 runs in his 3 over spell

• He is the first bowler from India to take five wickets in all three formats altogether.

• Being the top wicket-taker in 2016 and 2017 IPL, he was the only bowler to win the Purple Cap in back-to-back seasons.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar Awards and Accolades 

• Bhuvneshwar won the ICC People’s Choice Award in 2014

• Purple cap in the 2016 edition of the IPL

• Purple cap in the 2017 edition of the IPL

Bhuvneshwar Kumar Career 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar began his career as an opening swing bowler but improved his bowling inventory with yorkers, slower balls, and reverse swing to become an expert in the death overs. Bhuvi won the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy with India. He made IPL history by becoming the first bowler to win two purple caps in a row.

In December 2012, he played his first T20 international match against Pakistan, grabbing three wickets, including one in his first over. In the series that followed, he made his One Day International (ODI) debut, taking a wicket with the very first ball of the match. In Test, ODI, and T20 cricket, he is the first bowler from India to rack up a five wicket haul.

In all three formats of the game,, he is the only bowler to have bowled out his maiden wicket. With 11 wickets, he was the highest wicket taker in the 2022 Asia Cup.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar Domestic Career 

Kumar made his first-class debut against Bengal at the age of 17. Besides playing for Uttar Pradesh, he has also played for Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy. In the final of the 2008/09 Ranji season, he dismissed Sachin Tendulkar for his first-ever duck in first-class cricket.

After a six-year absence, Kumar made his first-class cricket comeback in January 2024, recording his best-ever bowling stats of 8-41 against Bengal in a Ranji Trophy match. After taking five wickets on the first day and three more on the second, he bowled Bengal out for 188 runs.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar IPL Career 

The 2018 and 2019 edition of the IPL were mediocre for him, taking 9 wickets and 13 wickets, respectively. In 2020, after playing four initial matches, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was ruled out of the remainder of the IPL matches due to a thigh muscle injury. He made his comeback in the 2021 IPL edition, in which he managed to claim only 6 wickets in 11 matches. 

Due to injuries, he played considerably fewer games and took just a few wickets in 2020 and 2021. In the 2022 season, he showed signs of recovery, taking 12 wickets in 14 games for SRH. twice in a row, in 2016 (with 23 wickets) and 2017 (with 26 wickets), won the Purple Cap for two consecutive seasons. This established his position as the league's top wicket-taker. He played an important part in SRH's first IPL championship victory in 2016, demonstrating his capacity to perform well under stress.

The most impressive thing about Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been that even after being an opening bowler, who generally bowls during the powerplay overs, he has maintained a low economy rate of 7.30.

The Indian pacer, who is a key member of the SRH team, was retained for the same INR 4.2 crores for the 2023 IPL season. Prior to the 2024 Indian Premier League, SRH decided to retain him for a total of 4.2 crores.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar International Career 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar made his T20I debut against Pakistan in 2012 and took 3 wickets for 9 runs. His ODI debut came a few days later against the same team. Bhuvi got a wicket on his very first ball in ODI cricket as he dismissed Mohammad Hafeez.

The year 2013 was eventful for the young man as he made his Test debut and also won the 2013 Champions League. In his Test debut against Australia, he scored 38 runs, the highest by an Indian number 10 on debut. Kumar ended up taking 6 wickets in four matches of his debut Test series. Kumar was selected for the Indian side which won the 2013 Champions Trophy and was named as part of the ICC team of the Tournament. He also posted his career-best figures of 4-8 against Sri Lanka cricket team the same year.

In 2014, he was part of the India team touring England. In the course of the series, he became the first Indian number 9 player to get three half-centuries in one series. He took 6 wickets for 82 runs at Lord’s, his career-best Test bowling figures. Due to fitness issues, Kumar was only able to play in one match in the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup. He came back fully fit for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and was included in the Team of the Tournament.

In the India vs South Africa T20I series in 2018, Bhuvneshwar Kumar took seven wickets, the most by an Indian fast bowler in a bilateral T20I series.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar ODI Career 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s ODI debut came against Pakistan on 30 December 2012 in Chennai. On his debut, Bhuvneshwar bowled excellently, taking two wickets and giving away only 27 runs in 9 overs. In the next couple of matches against Pakistan, he took a total of 3 wickets.

After an impressive debut series, he was included in the 5-match ODI series against England. He took a total of four wickets in the whole series. His next big series came against Australia, in which he managed to take only two wickets in five ODIs. Even in 2014, his performances with the ball were mediocre, taking one or two wickets at best.

Due to fitness issues, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was only able to play in one match in the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup. In the 2015 South Africa series, Bhuvneshwar took 2 3-wicket hauls, showing signs of his comeback. After an event less 2016, Bhuvneshwar played in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.

Bhuvneshwar took 7 wickets in 5 tournament matches and maintained a good economy rate. His next outstanding performance came against Sri Lanka, when he took 5 wickets for 42 runs on 3 September 2017. Then a couple of weeks later against Australia, Bhuvneshwar took an impressive 3 wickets for 9 runs.

In 2018, Bhuvneshwar played 5 ODI matches against South Africa, in which he took a total of only 2 wickets. He had a mediocre 2018 Asia Cups well, taking 6 wickets in five matches.

Bhuvneshwar was included in the Indian squad for the 2019 World Cup. He played 6 matches in the tournament and took an impressive ten wickets. And due to the Covid-19 epidemic, Bhuvneshwar didn’t play any matches in 2020.

His comeback came against England. He took 6 wickets in the three matches. His last series came against South Africa in January 2022 in which he remained wicketless through both the matches.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar Test Career 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar made his debut against Australia on 22 February 2013 in Border-Gavaskar Test series. In his Test debut against Australia, he scored 38 runs, the highest by an Indian number 10 on debut. Then in the next match, he plucked 3 wickets by confusing Australian batters with his swinging deliveries.

His ability to manoeuvre the new ball was handy in taking early wickets. He took another three wickets in the following Test match. Bhuvaneshwari was also included in the 2013 West Indies Tour of India. The right-arm pacer played both the Test matches and took a total of 3 wickets.

In 2014, Bhuvneshwar played his first Test series in foreign conditions. He was named in the Indian squad for the England Tour. In the very first innings, Bhuvneshwar destroyed the English batters and took his 5-wicket haul. In the next match, he bested his previous performance by taking a 6-wicket haul for 82 runs. Overcast conditions along with a green deck in England, suited Bhuvneshwar. In the third and fourth matches, he took a couple of 3-wicket hauls.

In the course of the series, he also became the first Indian number 9 player to get three half-centuries in one series. The following year, due to an onset of injuries, he got to play in only one Test match, that occurred in Sydney against Australia. He was unimpressive in that match, going wicketless in the first innings, and taking only one wicket in the second one.

In the latter parts of 2016, Bhuvneshwar got a five-wicket haul against the West Indies. Then a month later, he picked another 5-wicket haul, this time against New Zealand. But due to a back injury, Bhuvneshwar was rested for the remainder of the Test series against New Zealand. He went on playing single matches against sides such as England, Australia and Bangladesh, against whom, he performed moderately, taking one wicket per innings at best.

His last Test series was in January 2018, in South Africa against the Proteas. In the first match, Bhuvneshwar took an impressive 4 wickets for 87 runs in 19 overs and then picked another couple of wickets in the second innings. Then, in his last match, he dismissed a total of 4 South African batters. Due to various injuries and the rise of other capable young fast bowlers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has often been neglected by the selectors and missed out in many matches.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar T20I Career 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar made his T20I debut against Pakistan on 25 December 2012. In his very first match, he dismissed three destructive Pakistani batters and gave away only 9 runs in four overs. He played only one match in 2013, in which he took 3 wickets for 35 runs against Australia. After becoming fit again, Bhuvneshwar played in the 2014 T20 World Cup.

Although he took only four wickets in six matches, his economy rate was on the lower side. Next, he played four matches in 2015. Being out of the cricket circuit for much time, he struggled to perform in those matches, taking only two wickets. In 2016, he played only one match in the Asia Cup, taking 2 wickets for 8 runs against UAE. He was also included in the Indian squad for the 2016 T20 World Cup but didn’t get to play a single game.

In February 2018, Bhuvneshwar played three T20Is against the Proteas in South Africa. Bhuvneshwar had a scintillating performance in the first match, taking five wickets for 24 runs in the first match. Then he played in an away series against Australia, in which he had an average performance.

In 2019, Bhuvneshwar was included in the playing eleven for a couple of series. Against New Zealand, he took 3 wickets in three matches, but had a high economy rate. Then against West Indies in the Caribbean, Bhuvneshwar bowled economical overs and took 3 wickets.

When the cricket matches resumed after the Covid-19 epidemic, Bhuvneshwar made his T20I comeback in the five-match series against England. He picked up four wickets, out of which three were of Jos Buttler.

Deservingly, Bhuvneshwar was selected in the Indian side for the 2021 T20 World Cup. The experienced pacer played only the opening match for India and due to poor form was replaced by other players throughout the tournament.

Recently in June 2022, Bhuvneshwar Kumar took four wickets for 13 runs in a T201 match against South Africa. He also featured in a couple of T201 matches against England, in which he took four wickets and was instrumental in India's success. In the 2022 Asia Cup, Bhuvneshwar performed exceptionally.

Against Pakistan, in the opening match, he claimed four wickets for 26 runs. And in the final match of the tournament against Afghanistan, he achieved his career-best bowling figures of five wickets for a mere four runs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s last series came against Australia, in which he had an economy rate of 13 an over and took only one wicket in both matches combined.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar Captaincy 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has led SRH in a few games. He served the franchise as vice-captain for a long time. As of 2024 Bhuvneshwar Kumar has not captained the Indian national team.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar Under-19 Career 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was 17 years old when he made his debut for India U-19 in April 2012. Even though he was a consistent wicket-taker, he was not renowned until he made his international debut at the 2014 U-19 World Cup in Dubai. Yadav became the first Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in the history of the event in the match against Scotland. With 14 wickets at the end of the competition, he tied for second-most and was crowned India's top wicket-taker. Selection committees were impressed with Yadav's performance, and the Kolkata Knight Riders offered him an Indian Premier League contract in 2016.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar Family 

Kumar’s father, Kiran Pal Singh is a sub-inspector and his mother Indresh Singh is a homemaker. It was his elder sister Rekha Adhana who encouraged him to play cricket and took him to his first cricket coaching centre. In 2017, Bhuvneshwar Kumar tied the knot with Nupur Nagar.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar Net Worth 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has an astounding net worth of INR 74 crore, or $9 million, as of 2024. 2009 saw Bhuvneshwar Kumar play in the Indian Premier League for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The franchise paid a modest amount of INR 6 lakh to acquire him. He was signed for INR 20 lakh by the now-dissolved Pune Warriors India after playing for the Bangalore team for two years. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been an indispensable part of the Hyderabad team since 2014. The Indian pacer was retained for INR 4.2 crores for the 2023 IPL season. Before the IPL 2024 season, the SRH retained their star bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the same amount of INR 4.2 crore. His IPL earnings alone surpassed 55 crores so far

Bhuvneshwar Kumar House 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar resides in a lavish bungalow in Ganga Nagar, Meerut, where he lives with his family. He also owns a farmhouse in Noida.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar Cars 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar's car collection is quite limited, yet it includes some high-end four-wheelers. Bhuvi has a Mercedes, an Audi Q3, and a BMW 530d M-Sport, which is valued around INR 75 lakh.