When India takes to the field for a T20I on October 22, it will be exactly three years and 11 months since Bhuvneshwar Kumar last took to the field for India.
There is, however, every chance that the streak will end before it can hit four years, with the 36-year-old named in the squad for India’s upcoming T20I series against New Zealand, marking the culmination of a remarkable turnaround for a bowler who seemed nowhere near national contention even this time last year.
The player himself had made his peace with not representing India. At a select media interaction during IPL 2026, he said, “I had made peace with it the day after I was dropped from the national team. It didn’t take me much time to think [on how to proceed]. With all these T20 competitions, there is enough in a year to be in touch with cricket.”
Comeback through the IPL
Bhuvneshwar has forced his name back into contention almost entirely through his performances for Royal Challengers Bengaluru across the last two seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
He exclusively plays the shortest format of the game, with all of his appearances since February 2025 coming in T20s either in the IPL, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, or UP T20 League.
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His exclusive focus on short-format cricket has done little to affect his form, and he has arguably been the outstanding bowler across the last two seasons of the IPL. He is the leading wicket-taker since the start of IPL 2025 with 45 dismissals. More impressively, he is the only pacer in the top 20 of that list with an economy rate below nine (8.55), even as scoring rates rise higher by the season.
His effectiveness has translated across phases. He is the leading wicket-taker in the PowerPlay across the last two years (25 wickets), but he is also the joint-highest wicket-taker between overs 16 and 20 (18 wickets), level with Prasidh Krishna.
Central to his prolific wicket-taking has been his control of length. He has dominated the traditional ‘Test match’ lengths, the good-length and back-of-a-length areas, claiming 29 of his 45 dismissals from them.
Bhuvneshwar is the leading wicket-taker since the start of IPL 2025 with 45 dismissals, and perhaps more impressively he is the only pacer in the top 20 of that list with an economy rate below nine (8.55) as scoring rates rise higher by the season.
Bhuvneshwar is the leading wicket-taker since the start of IPL 2025 with 45 dismissals, and perhaps more impressively he is the only pacer in the top 20 of that list with an economy rate below nine (8.55) as scoring rates rise higher by the season.
“The length ball trend is back, but that is not for everyone. If there is help in the wicket, the length balls are effective,” he reflected. “The younger generation doesn’t care who is bowling or what the wicket is; they just go for it. They are being rude to seniors.”
His ability with the new ball was particularly devastating, allowing him to end matches almost on his own, as Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians found out to their detriment in IPL 2026.
A complete skill-set
But the 36-year-old is far from a one-trick pony. A look at his bowling patterns across the last two seasons indicates that while he has stuck to Test lengths during the PowerPlay, he has been far more adaptable in the closing stages of the innings, able to go both full and short to keep batters guessing.
A look at Bhuvneshwar’s bowling patterns across the last two seasons indicates that while he has stuck to Test lengths during the PowerPlay, he has been far more adaptable in the closing stages of the innings, able to go both full and short to keep batters guessing.
A look at Bhuvneshwar’s bowling patterns across the last two seasons indicates that while he has stuck to Test lengths during the PowerPlay, he has been far more adaptable in the closing stages of the innings, able to go both full and short to keep batters guessing.
His ability to vary his length is complemented by a repertoire of change-ups, including cutters, the knuckle-ball and, in the right conditions, reverse-swing. He noted that being a full-time T20 player meant that he was able to call on those skills more easily, saying, “The variations are always there when I practice. When I used to play other formats going from Tests to T20, there used to be a transition or it needed few net sessions to bring yorker and slower ball into practice.”
The variations not only made him a more adept death bowler but also gave him extra tools to counter aggression once the new-ball movement had worn off in the PowerPlay.
A multi-format option for India
Bhuvneshwar’s recall to the Indian team comes at an interesting time, given that its white-ball focus is currently on the 50-over format with the ODI World Cup next year.
A recall to the 50-over side seems unlikely, given that he has not played a List A game since December 2023. But his multi-phase excellence gives the T20I side flexibility as it looks to blood players before the 2028 T20 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
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Many of the bowlers India has invested in, including Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, and Gurnoor Brar, tend to operate with the older ball, and having a bowler who can reliably cover across phases gives it the chance to expose them to different situations with a safety net behind them.
But beyond his value for India, Bhuvneshwar’s comeback is testament to a bowler who has put in the hard yards to reinvent himself and stay relevant in an increasingly batting-dominated era of T20 cricket. In the process, he has perhaps become the standout bowler in the IPL.
Published on Oct 07, 2026
