He took 17 wickets in the previous season.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will be aiming for the back-to-back titles in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the upcoming season. However, the RCB IPL 2026 squad will have some serious challenges. The recent form of Bhuvneshwar Kumar could be another concern for the defending champions.
Playing for DY Patil Red, India’s pace spearhead in international cricket at one point hasn’t looked in good rhythm. That will compound RCB’s issues for the upcoming edition.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was a key part of the title-winning season for Royal Challengers last year, taking 17 wickets at an economy of 9.28. Despite high economy, he did his role with the new ball and in death overs pretty well. But he has been poor in the ongoing DY Patil T20 Cup 2026.
In his last five matches, the right-arm seamer has taken six wickets and conceded runs at an expensive rate of 10.21. Bhuvneshwar was awful in the semi-final as well, where he took two wickets but ended up leaking 53 runs from four overs.
His best recent performance came in the quarterfinal, where he snared 1 for 34 in his full quota of overs. In none of these games has he managed to keep the economy under 8.50, which could ring the alarm bells for the RCB IPL 2026 chances.
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Under the head coach Andy Flower, the reigning champions have a great management which has built a strong RCB IPL 2026 squad. They bought players with specific roles in mind. But some things out of their control have thrown a spanner into their work.
For starters, there is a big question mark over Josh Hazlewood’s availability for the upcoming tournament. He missed the T20 World Cup 2026, and has been out of action since November. They have a decent backup in Jacob Duffy but the difference in experience is immense.
Yash Dayal is facing serious criminal allegations, and is unlikely to feature in next season. Royal Challengers Bengaluru could bring in a replacement for Dayal but that might not fill the role requirement.
With 2/3rd of the pace attack from the previous season unlikely to be there, it makes Bhuvneshwar Kumar the leading pacer for the side. His current form, however, doesn’t inspire much confidence. The defending champions would hope that the veteran seamer can regain his form before their title defence kicks off.
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