Still swinging it: Bhuvneshwar Kumar enjoys second wind at RCB
Thirteen Years After His T20I Debut, The 36-Year-Old Is Still Adapting, Still Succeeding In A Format Increasingly Hostile To Bowlers
RAIPUR: On a Dec evening at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru in 2012, a young Uttar Pradesh pacer announced himself to international cricket with a dream T20I debut against Pakistan. Swinging the new ball with remarkable control, Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned figures of 3/9. More than 13 years later, in a format that has tilted further towards batters, Bhuvneshwar remains not just relevant but among the most effective, as he has shown in the IPL this season.
Once a young swing-bowling prospect, he now stands as a study in craft, discipline and constant reinvention. At 36, he has 21 wickets from 11 matches and leads the IPL wicket charts this season, a significant marker in a competition where 200-plus totals no longer feel safe and bowlers are challenged every over. For Bhuvneshwar, survival in modern T20 cricket has come down to one thing: constant evolution.
“My skills and the mental aspect of my game have changed a lot. What also changed is accepting situations quickly. The way batters are coming at you now is very different from what it used to be 10 years ago.
Accepting things quickly probably helped me,” said the 36-year-old. That adaptability has become essential in a tournament that now barely resembles the IPL’s early years. Batters now attack from ball one, unconventional strokes have become mainstream and even good deliveries regularly disappear into the stands.