Veteran Indian pacer joins RCB camp ahead of IPL 2025 [In Pictures]

Veteran India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has joined the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) camp ahead of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL), which is set to begin on March 22. After representing SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) for 11 seasons from 2014 to 2024, Bhuvneshwar will now play for RCB.

The 35-year-old was acquired by the franchise for INR 10.75 crore during the 2025 IPL mega auction. This won’t be Bhuvneshwar's first time representing the Bengaluru-based team, as he made his debut in franchise cricket with RCB during the 2009 Champions League Twenty20.

In that tournament, he played one match against the Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) and finished with figures of 0/31 from four overs. Now, as he begins his new stint with the franchise, Bhuvneshwar has joined the RCB camp ahead of the 2025 season and was spotted wearing the team's jersey.

The official Instagram account of the franchise shared a couple of pictures with the caption:

“Bhuvi is reunited with RCB finally, and our threads fit him perfectly. Here’s wishing a super happy #Homecoming for our Swing King.”

Overall, the 35-year-old pacer has played 176 IPL matches, claiming 181 wickets, making him the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the tournament. He has also won the Purple Cap twice, in the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s schedule for IPL 2025

Royal Challengers Bengaluru will kick off their IPL 2025 campaign with a match against defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders on March 22. Here’s the complete IPL 2025 schedule for the Royal Challengers:

March 22: KKR vs RCB - 7:30 pm, Kolkata

March 28: CSK vs RCB - 7:30 pm, Chennai

April 2: RCB vs GT - 7:30 pm, Bengaluru

April 7: MI vs RCB - 7:30 pm, Mumbai

April 10: RCB vs DC - 7:30 pm, Bengaluru

April 13: RR vs RCB - 3:30 pm, Jaipur

April 18: RCB vs PBKS - 7:30 pm, Bengaluru

April 20: PBKS vs RCB - 3:30 pm, Mullanpur

April 24: RCB vs RR - 7:30 pm, Bengaluru

April 27: DC vs RCB - 7:30 pm, Delhi

May 3: RCB vs CSK - 7:30 pm, Bengaluru

May 9: LSG vs RCB - 7:30 pm, Lucknow

May 13: RCB vs SRH - 7:30 pm, Bengaluru

May 17: RCB vs KKR - 7:30 pm, Bengaluru

Meanwhile, the team will be led by Rajat Patidar.

About the author

Dev Sharma is a cricket journalist at Sportskeeda with over two years of experience. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and has previously worked at Times Now as a sports writer.

His degree has empowered him with a good understanding of ethics in journalism and effective interviewing techniques, which he employs in his articles. He researches and verifies facts from multiple sources and remains impartial in his viewpoints. He has had the privilege of interviewing renowned sports journalist Vijay Lokapally.

Dev loves cricket because of its ability to keep spectators on the edge of their seats and its ability to foster a sense of community and shared passion. He is a staunch supporter of the Indian cricket team and his favorite cricketer is Yuvraj Singh, especially after he hit those iconic six sixes in an over in 2007. He also admires Rohit Sharma’s leadership as he led Mumbai Indians to five IPL titles and Team India to the T20 World Cup.

When he’s not working, Dev enjoys watching football or catching up on his sleep.

Know More

Get real-time updates on IPL 2025, live scores, IPL Prediction, match schedule, points table,Result & squad -CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS

Edited by Vaishnavi Iyer