Royal Challengers Bengaluru pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar said team success now outweighed personal milestones after moving to the top of the IPL 2026 wicket charts, while also pointing to chasing conditions and bowling decisions following RCB’s four-wicket defeat to the Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad.
Bhuvneshwar returned with figures of 3/28 against GT, taking his tally to 17 wickets from nine matches and regaining the Purple Cap as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker. But the veteran seamer said his priorities had now shifted from individual awards to contributing to the team’s campaign.
“It’s good that I got the Purple Cap. But I think I have come out of that time where I want to achieve something individually,” Bhuvneshwar said after the match on Thursday.
“Of course, I want to achieve something, but now it’s more of a team. I’m not young anymore. Of course, when you’re young, you want to win those awards, and it comes when you do well.
“But when you want to work towards the team’s goal, and you get an individual award or reward, you feel good. But honestly, I’m just trying my best. Getting confidence from the management. That’s all I can say,” he added.
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The 36-year-old has been one of RCB’s most reliable bowlers this season, using his experience and control to deliver, especially in the powerplay. His spell against GT again kept RCB competitive, but it was not enough to prevent defeat.
He admitted that chasing totals had become easier across grounds in this year’s IPL, citing the nature of surfaces and dew later in the evening.
“If you look at this IPL, chasing is a bit easier in any ground because the way wicket behaves and dew comes. So, yes, it could be different,” he said.
“But yeah, we didn’t win the toss. We were asked to bat first. We tried our best in bowling. So now the result is that we lost. That’s all.”
When asked about the limited use of leg-spinner Suyash Sharma during the game, he said RCB opted for seam-heavy tactics because the pitch offered assistance to pace bowlers and the side needed wickets to stay in the contest.
“Good question, but if you look at the scenario, there was some help for seamers, and we had Romario, third seamer. So, we wanted to take a chance,” he said.
“And Suyash is someone who is not easy to pick. So, we wanted to get wickets as quick as possible. So, that’s the reason he didn’t bowl.
“We couldn’t have won the match by defending runs. We could have won by taking wickets, and the bowlers who bowled were the best bowlers to get those wickets,” he added.
RCB next take on Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow on May 7.
