Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Virat Kohli, who finally tasted what it’s like to win an Indian Premier League title last year, heaped a lot of praise on his current RCB teammate and vetera
Published: May 7, 2026 6:55 PM IST
Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Virat Kohli, who finally tasted what it’s like to win an Indian Premier League title last year, heaped a lot of praise on his current RCB teammate and veteran India seamer Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. The right-arm seamer is on the cusp of making history when he takes the field in match number 50 of the IPL against the Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium.
Highlights
- Bhuvaneshwar Kumar will become just the 12th player in the history of the competition to complete 200 matches in the Indian Premier League
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar was one of the major reasons why RCB were able to end their 18-year wait for the elusive IPL title. Along with Australia’s Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvaneshwar formed a lethal pace attack which was able to counter even the most deadliest batting line-up.
While Hazlewood scalped 22 wickets, Bhuvaneshwar bagged 17 wickets at a decent economy rate of 9.29. In the on-going season, the UP-born seamer appears to be in an even better form, registering 17 wickets already in just 9 appearances with a bettered economy rate of 7.54. He is definitely going to be a key asset for the RCB in the run-in to the business end of the season.
When he takes the field against LSG later tonight, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar will achieve a rare feat of completing 200 IPL matches, something that only 11 players have achieved before. He will become just the 12th player in the history of the competition to do so.
Notably, all the previous 11 players to complete 200 matches in the IPL are all batters and Bhuvaneshwar will become the first specialist bowler to appear in the exclusive list.
Virat Kohli ranks Bhuvaneshwar Kumar as one of the very best
Ahead of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar’s milestone match, Virat Kohli had a special message for his former India teammate. Kohli, who has captained the prolific swing bowler on numerous occasions while playing for India, highlighted Bhuvaneshwar’s longevity and consistency.
Virat Kohli appreciated Bhuvaneshwar’s cricketing intelligence and claimed that the latter is easily among the top 3 pacers in the history of the cash-rich league.
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“It’s a huge achievement to play 200 IPL games, especially as a fast bowler. That speaks volumes about his longevity and consistency. He has played so much cricket across formats and has remained successful throughout. The thing that has always stood out about Bhuvi is his understanding of the game and his cricket intelligence. He is definitely among the top three pacers in IPL history.” – Virat Kohli said on a video released by RCB.
In 199 matches, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar has scalped a total of 215 wickets at an exceptional economy rate of 7.54 with best figures of 5/19. He remains the only bowler in the IPL to win consecutive purple caps, taking 23 and 26 wickets in 2016 and 2017 respectively. The 36-year-old also holds the record of bowling the most dot balls (nearly 1793).
