There were nine required from the last three balls. Raj Bawa went for the wide yorker, saw it disappear over deep cover, and suddenly Royal Challengers Bengaluru were almost home. Two scrambled runs later the chase of 167 against Mumbai Indians was done, RCB sat on top of the table, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar – four wickets already in the bank – was grinning like a schoolboy.
“Six, for sure, because I’ve bowled [well] many times before, I’ve taken a few wickets as well. But yeah, this is the thing I enjoyed the most,” he said when asked which moment would stay with him longer. Hard to argue.
Earlier, on a two-paced Raipur surface, the seamer kept it mostly back of a length and left MI 28 for 3 after three overs. Ryan Rickelton picked out mid-off; Rohit Sharma nicked a knuckle-ball; Suryakumar Yadav followed next ball, first slip doing the rest. “I was being proactive [against Rohit],” Bhuvneshwar explained. “I was thinking Rohit might step out because he has played me that way in the past. SKY was new to the crease. So I wanted to bowl the normal length ball, and it worked.”
The figures – 4 for 23 – pushed him to 21 wickets for the season. No bowler has more. Just as telling is the economy: 7.00 in the powerplay, 8.42 through the middle, 7.83 at the death. Measured against anyone who has delivered 50 balls in those phases, he is at or near the top for frugality.
Deep Dasgupta called the closing blow “a great example of Bhuvneshwar’s cricketing IQ”, while Ambati Rayudu simply laughed: the bowler, in his 30s, suddenly the finisher.
Yet international selection has been absent since November 2022. How does the motivation stay alive? “Honestly, motivation is a very overrated word for me,” he said. “You read some quote, you watch some video, and you get motivated for a few minutes. But that fades away very quickly. The thing that keeps me going is discipline.”
That discipline involves his own physio and trainer back in Meerut. “Yes, there are physios and trainers with the team, but I’ve got a physio and a trainer back at home. They work hard with me as well. They help me to stay in shape, so yeah, credit goes to them as well.”
Match practice is stitched together: the UP T20 League, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, enough to stay sharp without over-loading the body. “The good thing is that throughout the year, I’m getting enough match practice to stay in touch and enough breaks to recharge myself, bring back the strength,” he said. “I play the UP T20 and the Mushtaq Ali, and that’s enough practice for me to be in touch. Of course when the IPL comes, there is a different kind of practice, because the level in the Mushtaq Ali and the UP T20 is probably different. So when I come back to the IPL, we have the camp, and I do whatever I need to.”
A word too for the current RCB set-up. “Probably the best feeling for me, when you do what you want to – you feel confident. This team management leaves everything to you.”
So a bowler by trade, and still a very good one, ends an evening talking mostly about a lofted drive. Cricket does that. Four wickets framed the match; the six etched it in memory.
