Bhuvneshwar Kumar is an excellent operator of the white ball in the current generation. Not many pacers have excelled at T20 cricket as Bhuvneshwar has.
This is reflected in his meteoric rise in the Indian Premier League (IPL), where Bhuvi is among the top 5 wicket-takers. He started his IPL career with the Pune Warriors in 2011, before moving to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in 2014.
Since then, the Indian pacer has been the backbone of the SRH bowling attack, scalping heaps of wickets and powering the team to an IPL victory in 2016.
Bhuvneshwar has an impressive IPL career, and this article glances at his year-wise wickets.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar IPL Wickets Year by Year
Year | Wickets | Matches | BBI | Avg | Econ | SR | 4W/5W |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | 3 | 4 | 2/14 | 22.33 | 6.09 | 22.00 | 0/0 |
2012 | 8 | 11 | 2/9 | 35.12 | 7.20 | 29.25 | 0/0 |
2013 | 13 | 16 | 3/18 | 28.53 | 6.50 | 26.30 | 0/0 |
2014 | 20 | 14 | 4/14 | 17.70 | 6.65 | 15.95 | 1/0 |
2015 | 18 | 14 | 3/26 | 22.61 | 7.87 | 17.22 | 0/0 |
2016 | 23 | 17 | 4/29 | 21.30 | 7.42 | 17.21 | 1/0 |
2017 | 26 | 14 | 5/19 | 14.19 | 7.05 | 12.07 | 0/1 |
2018 | 9 | 12 | 3/26 | 39.33 | 7.66 | 30.77 | 0/0 |
2019 | 13 | 15 | 2/24 | 35.46 | 7.81 | 27.23 | 0/0 |
2020 | 3 | 4 | 2/25 | 33.00 | 6.98 | 28.33 | 0/0 |
2021 | 6 | 11 | 1/16 | 55.83 | 7.97 | 42.00 | 0/0 |
2022 | 12 | 14 | 3/22 | 31.92 | 7.34 | 26.08 | 0/0 |
2023 | 16 | 14 | 5/30 | 26.56 | 8.33 | 19.13 | 0/1 |
2024 | 11 | 16 | 3/41 | 48.45 | 9.35 | 31.09 | 0/0 |
Overall | 181 | 176 | 5/19 | 27.23 | 7.56 | 21.60 | 2/2 |
Key Insights
The 4 seasons between 2014 and 2017 were the golden period of Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s IPL career. The seamer scalped 87 wickets in 42 matches at an average of 18.62.
Moreover, Bhuvi’s 23 wickets in the 2016 season were crucial to Sunrisers Hyderabad’s maiden IPL title victory. And he was the leading wicket-taker in that season, claiming the Purple Cap for the first time.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the only bowler to win the coveted Purple Cap award in consecutive seasons. He carried his magic with the ball in the 2017 season, grabbing 26 wickets to top the wicket charts.
Also Read | Top 5 Spells of Bhuvneshwar Kumar in IPL
From his IPL debut in 2011 to 2023, Bhuvi’s season economy rate went above 8 only once in the 2023 edition.
Bhuvneshwar is among the select few bowlers who have taken 20+ wickets in 3 or more IPL seasons. Apart from the 2016 (23) and 2017 (26) editions, he bagged 20 wickets in 2014.
He has done extremely well in 2 crucial phases — powerplay overs and death overs — sitting among the top wicket-takers. Likewise, Bhuvi also shines bright in the 1st overs and 20th overs, displaying his craft to outfox batters.