Mohammed Kaif played against Virat Kohli during his last Ranji appearance in 2012.© PTI

Former India player Dinesh Karthik, who is now in the support staff of Indian Premier League side Royal Challengers Bengaluru, has given a massive verdict. According to Karthik, RCB’s new signing Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the best bowler India has after Jasprit Bumrah. While there is no doubt about Bumrah being at the top spot among the Indian bowlers, Karthik felt that 34-year-old Bhuvneshwar is right behind him. Notably, Bhuvneshwar claimed 294 wickets for India. He is also a proven performer in IPL. Bhuvneshwar is the pacer with second-most wickets in IPL, with 181 wickets from 176 matches in the tournament. 

“Just for the record, I am convinced that he is the best bowler India has after Bumrah even today. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the best T20 bowler,” said Karthik in a video shared by RCB’s official X handle.

Veteran Indian seamer Bhuvneshwar earlier this month expressed his excitement at returning to RCB ahead of IPL 2025.

Bhuvneshwar, who began his IPL journey with RCB in 2009, is looking forward to shoulder the team’s bowling responsibilities for the first time since he started playing in the league.

“Really happy to be part of RCB, it’s where I started in 2009. I want to thank RCB management for considering me and a big shout out to the RCB fans for showing so much love. Looking forward to a great season,” said Bhuvneshwar in a release.

The right-arm pacer recently delivered a sensational bowling performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, celebrating his recent acquisition by RCB with a stunning hat-trick. Leading Uttar Pradesh, he finished with extraordinary figures of 3 for 6 against Jharkhand, securing a 10-run victory for his team earlier this month.

Defending a target of 161, Bhuvneshwar turned the match on its head in the 17th over, dismissing Robin Minz, Bal Krishna, and Vivekanand Tiwari with the first three balls. His hat-trick came in a triple-wicket maiden over, underlining his brilliance as a bowler.

(With PTI Inputs)

Veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar claimed a triple-wicket maiden as Uttar Pradesh secured a narrow 10-run victory over Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) group-stage match against Jharkhand at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. Chasing 161 for victory, Jharkhand looked steady in patches, but Bhuvneshwar’s masterful swing derailed their chase. Bowling with the new ball, the Meerut-born pacer conceded just six runs in his first three overs. When he returned in the 17th over, Bhuvneshwar delivered a game-changing final over, dismissing Robin Minz, Bal Krishna, and Vivek Anand Tiwari on consecutive deliveries to claim a sensational hat-trick. He finished with exceptional figures of 4-1-6-3, ensuring Jharkhand fell short by 10 runs.

This was Uttar Pradesh’s fifth win in seven matches, while this was Jharkhand’s second defeat in seven games.

This performance caps off a historic SMAT season for Bhuvneshwar. Last month, in Uttar Pradesh’s opening match against Delhi, he became the first Indian pacer to reach 300 T20 wickets, surpassing Jasprit Bumrah.

Bhuvneshwar has accumulated 90 T20I wickets between 2012 and 2022, making him India’s second-highest wicket-taking pacer in the format. He has 181 wickets in 176 SMAT matches in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Last month, the ace seamer was roped in by Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the IPL 2025 Mega Auction for Rs 10.75 crore.

Meanwhile, Skipper Abhishek Sharma equalled the record for the fastest T20 century by an Indian batter as he smashed a sensational 100 off just 28 balls for Punjab in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) match against Meghalaya at the Niranjan Shah Stadium C on Thursday.

With his unbeaten innings of 106 off 29, laced with 11 maximums and eight boundaries, Abhishek equalled the record for the fastest T20 century by an Indian batter with Gujarat’s Urvil Patel, who had smashed a 28-ball century against Tripura earlier in this tournament in Indore.

Chasing a modest target of 143, Abhishek raced to his half-century in just 12 balls before reaching the historic milestone in just 28 balls as Punjab chased down the target in just 9.3 overs.

Abhishek’s sensational innings broke his lean patch in the tournament, as in his six previous innings, he managed 149 runs, crossing fifty only once.

Besides his heroics with bat, Abhishek also calimed two wickets in his four-over quota after conceding 24 runs at an economy of 6 as Punjab restricted Meghalaya on 142-7 in 20 overs.

Globally, Abhishek’s feat puts him just shy of the all-time fastest T20 century, a 27-ball effort by Estonia’s Sahil Chauhan against Cyprus.

File photo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar.© BCCI

Out of national reckoning for more than two years, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s experience was in demand among the IPL franchises with Royal Challengers Bengaluru buying him for Rs 10.75 crore as lesser-fancied Indian fast bowlers hit pay dirt on the second day of the mega auction on Monday. The Mumbai troika of Shardul Thakur, Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane along with New Zealand stars Kane Williamson and Glenn Phillips were among the unsold players. Bhuvneshwar, who will be 35 before the start of next IPL, has 300 wickets from 287 career T20 games and an economy rate of less than eight. But he last played for India during a tour of New Zealand in November 2022 and is considered well past his prime at the international level.

However, with at least three Indian pacers needed per team, the pool is not large enough to ensure equal distribution among the 10 teams.

Therefore, an out-of-favour Bhuvneshwar, an injury-prone Deepak Chahar (Rs 9.25 crore for Mumbai Indians) and a Test reserve Mukesh Kumar (Rs eight crore RTM by Delhi Capitals) got good deals on the second day when franchises came with leaner purse after splurging away on Sunday.

Akash Deep, the Test pacer, got a Rs eight crore deal from Lucknow Super Giants.

What works for Chahar and Bhuvneshwar is their ability to swing the white ball in Powerplays. Mukesh has takers for his wide yorkers at the death.

Even a Tushar Deshpande, who has an economy rate of close to 10 runs per over, was snapped by Rajasthan Royals at Rs 6.50 crore. He is currently recuperating from an ankle operation.

Former RCB skipper Faf du Plessis became the biggest bargain buy for Delhi Capitals at a base price of Rs two crore while Gujarat Titans were smart to lap up India all-rounder Washington Sundar for Rs 3.20 crore.

The paucity of good seam bowling Indian all-rounders in the auction list allowed South African Marco Jansen to laugh his way to the bank with a Rs seven crore deal from Punjab Kings.

Englishman Sam Curran, who had once attracted a Rs 18 crore bid, only had a couple of takers with CSK bringing him back home at Rs 2.40 crore.

Shardul, Shaw and Rahane can come back for the accelerated auction if the franchises pick them for it.

For Rahane, it wasn’t surprising as his form dipped alarmingly during his second season with CSK and during the ongoing domestic season, he has managed to hold his Mumbai spot due to his role of skipper.

In case of Shardul, it is the ‘Impact Player’ rule that became his undoing as neither his batting has the requisite firepower for T20 cricket nor does his seam bowling, with a T20I economy rate of 9.15, inspires confidence.

For Shaw, massive weight gain and fitness issues along with off-the-field drama has not exactly enhanced his reputation.

Among the three, only Shaw still has a chance to find some takers at the end because of his explosive Powerplay game. But his struggle against quality pace is well-documented.

Hardik Pandya’s brother Krunal Pandya got a Rs 5.75 crore deal from RCB who needed an experienced spin bowling all-rounder.

Nitish Rana, who had once breached the million dollar mark as an uncapped player, got a Rs 4.20 crore winning bid from Rajasthan Royals.

File image of Arshdeep Singh.© AFP

Former South Africa and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) star AB de Villiers has given his list of players he wants the franchise to target during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. De Villiers was a part of RCB for 11 seasons, during which they reached the IPL final twice, but failed to win the trophy. De Villiers mentioned that RCB’s high auction purse (Rs 83 crore) will be an advantage for them in the mega auction, and urged the franchise to re-purchase a former star.

“I told you, I want the priority to be a world-class spinner. Let’s just get Yuzi (Yuzvendra Chahal) back. Let’s stop messing around. Let’s get Yuzi back in RCB where he belongs. He should never have left,” De Villiers firmly said, speaking on his YouTube channel.

De Villiers named four players whom he believed that RCB should definitely go far in the auction — Chahal, Kagiso Rabada, Ravichandran Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

“I really fancy Ashwin. All that experience, you know what you’re gonna get from him. He can also win you games with bat in hand. Imagine if we get the twin spins from RR (Rajasthan Royals) at RCB,” De Villiers said.

De Villiers also spoke up for compatriot Kagiso Rabada, and urged RCB to target the pacer.

“Let’s get Kagiso Rabada, please. Kagiso Rabada, Yuzi Chahal and then we can think about Ashwin. If we get those three, we’re talking about a tournament-winning bowling attack,” De Villiers stated.

“There are my four priority players and I’d spend almost my entire purse on them. Chahal, Rabada, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ashwin. If you don’t get Rabada, go for Mohammed Shami or Arshdeep Singh,” said De Villiers.

RCB head into the auction with a purse of INR 83 crore and three Right to Match (RTM) cards, having retained Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Yash Dayal.

The IPL 2025 mega auction takes place in Jeddah on November 24 and 25.

It was a mundane performance by SunRisers Hyderabad against Kolkata Knight Rider in the Qualifier 1 of the IPL 2024 in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. For a side, that now has the top highest scores in the IPL, SunRisers Hyderabad’s decision to bat first against Kolkata Knight Riders stemmed from the belief that they would be able to back their strength However, what happened was quite the opposite. KKR’s Mitchell Starc came to the party at the right time as SRH were all out for just 159. KKR reached the target in less than 14 overs. 

Kavya Maran, SRH owner, has been a constant presence in her team’s matches throughout the IPL 2024. She was clearly not happy with the display of her team. However, one particular expression of hers has been widely shared. It was when SRH lost a review against KKR’s Sunil Narine in the third over. The appeal was for a LBW off the bowling of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, but DRS showed that the ball was pitched outside leg.

It surprised Maran. 

Kavya Maran couldn’t believe it was pitching outside. pic.twitter.com/CAbnJiSyro

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 21, 2024

Expression of Kavya Maran pic.twitter.com/0HiHJwM0wu

— djay (@djaywalebabu) May 21, 2024

Unbeaten half-centuries by captain Shreyas Iyer (58*) and Venkatesh Iyer (51*) guided Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to a crushing eight-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Qualifier 1 and place in the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at Narendra Modi Stadium here on Tuesday.

Hyderabad will have another chance to face KKR in the final as they will next take on the winner of the Eliminator match between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Chennai on Friday.

Chasing 160, openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sunil Narine gave KKR an electric start in the Powerplay overs as the due scored runs at a run rate of over 10 runs per over.

The first-wicket partnership lasted for 44 runs in 20 balls before T. Natrajan made inroads in the fourth over. The pacer removed Gurbaz at the score of 23 to bring the side back in the game after the thundering start in the chase.

Venkatesh Iyer joined Narine in the middle and kept the momentum going as they added 23 runs before Pat Cummins got Narine (21) in his first over into the attack just after the powerplay.

Shreyas Iyer walked out to bat at No. 4 and built the match-winning partnership for the side that allowed them to chase the total with 38 balls to spare.

Shreyas (58*) and Venkatesh (51*) accumulated an unbeaten 97-run partnership for the third wicket and also smashed their individual fifties during the successful run-chase. Both players hit four sixes and five fours each as they went berserk to take their side to the final.

Earlier, KKR restricted Sunrisers Hyderabad to 159 all out in 19.3 overs after the latter decided to bat first.

With IANs inputs

Rovman Powell was trapped LBW on the last ball with RR needing two runs vs SRH.© X (Twitter)