Bhuvneshwar Kumar Singh (born 5 February 1990) is an Indian international

cricketer Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

who has played for the Indian cricket team in all three formats of the game. He is playing for

Royal Challengers Bangalore The Royal Challengers Bengaluru, formerly Royal Challengers Bangalore, also known as RCB, are a professional Twenty20, Twenty20 cricket team based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008 ...

in the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...

and plays for

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

in domestic cricket. A right-arm

fast-medium Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also i ...

bowler, he is known for his ability to effectively swing the ball both ways at will. Kumar was a member of the India team that won the

2013 ICC Champions Trophy The 2013 ICC Champions Trophy was the seventh ICC Champions Trophy, a One Day International cricket tournament held in England and Wales between 6 and 23 June 2013. India won the tournament for the second time by defeating England in the final ...

. He is the first bowler to win the IPL Purple Cap in two consecutive seasons. He made his international debut in December 2012 against

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, taking three wickets in a

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

, including one in his first over. He went on to make his

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) debut in the series which followed, where he took a wicket on his first ball. He is the first Indian bowler to take a

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter. Takin ...

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

, ODIs and T20Is. He is the only bowler whose first wicket in all three formats of the game was

bowled In cricket, the term bowled has several meanings. First, it is the act of propelling the ball towards the wicket defended by a batter. Second, it is a method of dismissing a batter, by hitting the wicket with a ball delivered by the bowler. ...

. During the

2022 Asia Cup The 2022 Asia Cup (also known as DP World Asia Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the Asia Cup cricket tournament, with the matches played as Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) during August and September 2022 in the United Arab Em ...

, he was the highest wicket taker with 11 wickets.

Early life

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was born in

Meerut Meerut (, ISO 15919, ISO: ''Mēraṭh'') is a city in the western region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Meerut district, it is northeast of the national capital, New Delhi, and is ...

on 5 February 1990 to Kiran Pal Singh, a police officer. His sister encouraged him to play cricket and took him to his first coaching centre when he was 13.

Domestic career

Kumar plays for

in domestic cricket; he has also played for

Central Zone Central Zone may refer to: Places * Central Indo-Aryan languages, or the "Central Zone" of Indo-Aryan, a language group of India * Central Zone, Bhutan, an administrative district of Bhutan * Central Zone of São Paulo, an administrative zone of th ...

in the

Duleep Trophy The Duleep Trophy, is a domestic First Class Cricket competition played in India. Named after former cricketer Duleepsinhji, the competition has largely been contested by teams representing various geographical zones of India since the first ed ...

and made his first-class debut at the age of 17 against

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

. In the 2008/09

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India and organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The teams representing regional and state cricket associations participate. BCCI ...

final, he became the first bowler to dismiss

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...

for a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

Indian Premier League

Following his performances in the 2008/09 Ranji season, he was given an

(IPL) contract by

. In 2011, he was signed by

Pune Warriors India Pune Warriors India was a franchise Twenty20 cricket team that represented the city of Pune in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team was one of two IPL franchises from the Indian state of Maharashtra, the other being Mumbai Indians. It was ...

, but after the team was dissolved in 2013, he was bought by

Sunrisers Hyderabad The Sunrisers Hyderabad, also known as SRH, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Hyderabad, Telangana, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by Kalanithi Maran of the Sun Group and was found ...

for ₹4.25 crores during the 2014 IPL Auction. In 2016, he played in Sunrisers' team which won the

2016 Indian Premier League The 2016 Indian Premier League season (also known as IPL 9, and branded as Vivo IPL 2016 for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth season of the Indian Premier League, a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the Board of Control for ...

, taking 23 wickets and winning the Purple Cap as the bowler who took most wickets during the season. In 2018, he was named the team's vice-captain. In the 2022

mega-auction, Kumar was bought by the

for ₹4.20 crores. He was later released by Sunrisers Hyderabad after the 2024 Indian Premier League. In the auctions held in November 2024, Kumar was bought by

for ₹10.75

crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

International career

Kumar made his international debut at the end of 2012, playing in T20I and ODI matches against Pakistan. He made his Test debut in 2013 and was part of the Indian team which won the 2013 Champions Trophy. He was named in the Team of the Tournament by the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

(ICC). In July 2013, he posted career-best figures of four wickets for eight runs (4/8) against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

in the Tri-Nation tournament. He was the leading wicket taker in the tournament and awarded the Player of the Series. During the 2014 tour of England, Kumar took new career-best Test match bowling figures of 6/82 at Lord's; he was named the Indian Player of the Series. In February 2018, he took a

in a T20I against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. He became the second Indian bowler to take 5 wickets in T20Is. In January 2019, in the first ODI against Australia, Kumar took his 100th wicket in ODIs. In April 2019, he was named in India's squad for the

2019 Cricket World Cup The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament was hosted bet ...

but was later ruled out of a number of matches due to a leg injury. In June 2021, he was named India's vice-captain for their ODI and T20I matches against Sri Lanka and in September 2021, Kumar was named in India's squad for the

2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the seventh edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20, a Twenty20 cricket tournament that took place from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The tournament was hosted by Unit ...

. In June 2022, Kumar was named India's vice-captain for their T20I matches against Ireland.

Personal life

On 23 November 2017, Kumar married Nupur Nagar in

. They became parents to a baby girl named Acsah on 24 November 2021.

References

External links

*
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
s profile page on Wisden
Bhuvneshwar Kumar – CricBuzz
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Bhuvneshwar 1990 births Living people Indian cricketers Sunrisers Hyderabad cricketers Pune Warriors India cricketers Uttar Pradesh cricketers Central Zone cricketers India One Day International cricketers India Test cricketers India Twenty20 International cricketers 21st-century Indian sportsmen India Blue cricketers Cricketers from Meerut Cricketers at the 2015 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2019 Cricket World Cup Royal Challengers Bengaluru cricketers