Indian quick Bhuvneshwar Kumar is not playing the opening match of IPL 2025 for RCB. Here's why they might have made the call.
RCB signed Bhuvneshwar for INR 10.75 crore during the player auction ahead of this season, making him the joint 10th-most expensive Indian player at the event.
The 35-year-old has represented Pune Warriors India and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, playing 11 consecutive seasons for the latter and lifting the 2016 title. He has played for Royal Challengers Bengaluru before, in the Champions League T20 back in October 2009.
Given his experience, his prowess especially with the new ball and the amount RCB forked out for him, it was thought Bhuvneshwar would be one of the key components of their pace attack. But instead, RCB began their campaign with the seam trio of Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal and Rasikh Salam.
Match 1, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
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- Ball by ball Over
Why Bhuvneshwar Kumar is not playing for RCB vs KKR
Bhuvneshwar has not been named among RCB's list of impact substitutes, which suggests he may have picked up an injury.
This was soon confirmed after the toss, when the franchise posted on X that he had picked up a "minor injury".
But there are tactical reasons why he may have sat out as well. Bhuvneshwar has been an effective powerplay bowler in the IPL. Last season, he was one of only three bowlers to take 10 wickets in the first six overs and conceded at under 8.5 runs per over.
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However, among their Indian quicks, Dayal was also effective with the new ball last year, has the advantage of being a left-armer, and was one of their three retained players for this season. Rasikh was used effectively at the death by Delhi Capitals last season, with his off-cutters and back-of-the-hand slower deliveries proving difficult for opposition batters. He conceded at 10.5 runs per over in the last five overs, compared to Bhuvneshwar's 13.4.
It remains to be seen how serious Bhuvneshwar's injury is.
Playing XIs: KKR vs RCB, IPL 2025 match 1
KKR playing XI: Venkatesh Iyer, Quinton de Kock (wk), Ajinkya Rahane (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Spencer Johnson.
RCB playing XI: Phil Salt (wk), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma , Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal.
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