Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been the toast of the veterans’ club in the IPL 2026 season, rewinding the clock with his classical swing and seam movement, castling oppositions throughout the season. The 36-year-old Bhuvneshwar will head into Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s second IPL final in successive years on Sunday in Ahmedabad with a special bit of acknowledgement coming his way from none batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar.
Tendulkar took to social media to applaud Bhuvneshwar for refining his skills this season, one that has seen him lead the seam-bowling pack of RCB, with a haul of 26 wickets across 15 matches. Tendulkar explained the key reason behind Bhuvneshwar’s form revival, indicating that the Meerut swing king has developed a subtle variation that has stunned batters.
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“Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been bowling really well this season. In the previous seasons, he had a lengthy outswinger or inswinger. He has developed a variation this season. He has been bowling as straight as possible. When you want to bowl a lengthy outswinger or inswinger, the seam has to be pointing towards the first slip or leg slip. This season, his seam has been wobbly. When there is wobble seam, even the batter cannot make out whether the ball would come in or go out,” Tendulkar said in a video shared on X.
“That is what he has been doing. He has been very accurate. His lines have been very accurate. That has been Bhuvi’s success mantra this season. Well done, Bhuvi,” he added.
The details are where the difference is made. Well done! @BhuviOfficial 🙌🏻 pic.twitter.com/mYTYK64eZ7
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) May 31, 2026
Bhuvneshwar, who has twice won the Purple Cap in successive years in 2016 and 2017, is only second to Gujarat Titans’ Kagiso Rabada who has 28 scalps ahead of the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Earlier in the season, his long-time India teammate and former RCB captain Virat Kohli also lauded Bhuvneshwar’s exploits.
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“What is Bhuvi doing? He is not bowling banana inswingers, banana outswingers. He is bowling at a length that tells the guys that I am good enough to hit the length every time. It is the most difficult length to hit, and I am just gonna keep hitting those lengths. Are you good enough to take me on or not?” Kohli had said on RCB’s podcast.
“It’s simple stuff. It’s repetition, it’s execution, uncomplicated consistency backed with tremendous belief. That’s all he is doing. Look at the results. He has six three-wicket hauls in 11 matches. That’s crazy,” Kohli added.
Holding a positive head-to-head record against the Gujarat top-order comprising Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler, RCB will pi their hopes once again on the Bhuvi magic to shine.
