13 May,2026 05:49 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Pic: File Pic)
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) are all set to take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL 2026 match on Wednesday at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Raipur.
Currently, RCB's star pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is enjoying the top spot on the list of leading wicket-takers. So far in 11 matches, he has bagged 21 wickets.
Ahead of the match, former Team India cricketer Irfan Pathan feels that the reason behind Bhuvneshwar's success is the bowling action that he has not changed.
"Bhuvneshwar has an amazing and highly repeatable action. He has had a 16-year-long IPL career and hasn't changed his action one bit. When you have the same action for such a long period, you can hit the areas you want to target," he said on JioHotstar.
The former cricketer then explained the dynamics of Bhuvneshwar's bowling action.
"At the same time, his wrist position and the way he manoeuvres it is masterful, with very little change in seam position, whether he is bowling the inswinger or moving it away, and all of it with so much control," said Pathan.
"When a bowler is running in at a certain speed, you only get a fraction of a second to react, and he has the ability to land the ball exactly where he wants to with the right fields. That's where experience comes into play," he added.
Currently, the Rajat Patidar-led men are placed in the second position on the points table. They have a net run rate (NRR) of +1.103 and 14 points. On the other hand, the Knight Riders are in the eighth position with a net run rate (NRR) of -0.169 and nine points.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Josh Hazlewood, Swapnil Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Krunal Pandya, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Venkatesh Iyer, Phil Salt (WK), Rajat Patidar (C), Nuwan Thushara, Romario Shepherd, Tim David, Devdutt Padikkal, Yash Dayal, Rasikh Salam, Jordan Cox, Jacob Bethell, Vicky Ostwal, Mangesh Yadav, Suyash Sharma, Vihaan Malhotra, Abhinandan Singh, Kanishk Chouhan, Satvik Deswal.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Manish Pandey, Sunil Narine, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert (WK), Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sarthak Ranjan, Finn Allen (WK), Rachin Ravindra, Cameron Green, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kartik Tyagi, Blessing Muzarabani, Akash Deep, Prashant Solanki, Matheesha Pathirana, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Harshit Rana, Tejasvi Singh (WK), Daksh Kamra.
(With ANI Inputs)
