Haren
Bhuvneshwar Kumar became the first India pacer to complete 300 T20 wickets during Uttar Pradesh’s opening Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match against Delhi at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
Featuring in his first major competitive game since the IPL 2024 season, Bhuvneshwar reached the feat with his first wicket for UP in the match, dismissing Delhi opener Yash Dhull for six in his second over. The 34-old seamer is also captaining the Uttar Pradesh side in the tournament.
Bhuvneshwar eclipsed India’s stand-in Test captain Jasprit Bumrah to become the first pacer from the country to reach the milestone of 300 T20 wickets.
Only spinners Yuzvendra Chahal (354), Piyush Chawla (314) and R Ashwin (310) have picked up more wickets than Bhuvneshwar in the T20 format among Indians. 90 of Bhuvneshwar’s career wickets have come in national colours between 2012 and 2022, making him the second-highest wicket-taking pacer for India.
The swing king from Meerut made his T20 debut in a Champions League T20 game in 2009 for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. He went wicketless in his maiden outing, conceding 31 runs in four overs against Delhi Daredevils.
In 176 games, Bhuvneshwar has racked up 181 wickets, making him the most successful seamer in the tournament’s history.
Bhuvneshwar was released by the SunRisers Hyderabad after 10 years last month, ahead of Sunday’s IPL 2025 mega auction in Jeddah. Bhuvneshwar is listed at a base price of INR 2 crore in the auction pool.
Bhuvneshwar holds the distinction of becoming the first India pacer to record five-wicket hauls in all three formats. He last featured for India in a T20I in November 2022.
