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 five wicket-takers. He started his IPL career with the Pune Warriors in 2011, before moving to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in 2014.
The Indian pacer soon became the backbone of the SRH bowling attack. He took heaps of wickets and powered the team to an IPL victory in 2016. Now, Bhuvi has returned to his first-ever IPL franchise, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
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 |
| 2025 | 17 | 14 | 2/26 | 28.41 | 9.28 | 18.30 | 0/0 |
| Overall | 198 | 190 | 5/19 | 27.33 | 7.69 | 21.30 | 2/2 |
Key Insights
The four 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 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.
