Bhuvneshwar Kumar

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. He belongs to India National cricket team and represents India on the international level. He plays for Sunrisers Hyderabad on the domestic level.

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

1. Bhuvneshwar Kumar scored 38 runs against Australia in 2013, the highest by an Indian number 10 on debut.
2. He is also the first Indian number 9 player to get three half-centuries in one series.

Also see - Kedar Jadhav Biography

Bhuvneshwar Kumar Awards and accolades

• Purple cap in the 2016 edition of the IPL

• Purple cap in the 2017 edition of the IPL

Bhuvneshwar Kumar Career

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.

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. And in the latest 2022 edition of the IPL, Bhuvneshwar took 12 wickets in 14 matches.

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.

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 on the ODI cricket as he dismissed Mohammad Hafeez.

2013 was an eventful year 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 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 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 maneuver 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 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 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 a 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 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.