Bhuvneshwar Kumar

National Team: India National Cricket Team ( TEST ODI T20I )

Domestic Team: Sunrisers Hyderabad ( T20 )

Domestic Team: Uttar Pradesh cricket team ( FC LO T20 )

Date of Birth: 05.02.1990

Batting Style: Right Hand

Role: Bowler

Bowling Style: Right-arm Medium Seam

Batting

Pos. Score

Bowling

Pos. Score

All-rounder

Pos. Score

Test Rankings

118 272

34 555

18 150

ODI Rankings

281 210

38 519

90 108

T20I Rankings

1022 24

11 647

210 15

Bhuvneshwar Kumar - A Bowler Representing The Indian National Cricket Team

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is an Indian international professional cricketer. He was one of the key bowlers of the national team from 2012 to 2022 across all three formats of the game (Test, ODI and T20). He is a winner of the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy and a two-time Asia Cup champion with India. He is the first and only bowler to have won one of the most prominent individual awards in Twenty20 cricket, the Purple Cap, in two consecutive seasons.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar: Biography and Sporting Career

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (full name: Bhuvneshwar Kumar Singh) was born on February 5, 1990, in Meerut, a city in northern India. The future athlete grew up in an ordinary middle-class family. His father, Kiran Pal Singh, served in the police force, while his mother, Indresh Singh, devoted herself to raising the children, Bhuvneshwar and his elder sister Rekha. It was Rekha who first took 13-year-old Kumar to a training session at Victoria Park Academy, encouraging his passion for cricket and making sure he had the sports gear he needed. Here is how the cricketer himself recalled that period in an interview with The Indian Express:

“I had interest in cricket ever since I was young. It was my sister Rekha, seven years older than, who took me to the stadium for the first time. At that time I was 13. The stadium was about 7 to 8 kilometres away from our residence, so it was she who used to take me to the stadium initially. Soon I learnt the route from home to the stadium and started heading out on my own”.

Kumar moved quickly through the ranks of Uttar Pradesh’s cricket system and soon made his debut for the state team at the age of 15, delivering an excellent return for a newcomer – 5 wickets in the match. In 2008, after being named BCCI Junior Cricketer of the Year, Kumar soon backed up that recognition at the senior level as well.

In the final of the 2008/09 Ranji Trophy, he pulled off what seemed impossible: he dismissed Sachin Tendulkar. It was a one-of-a-kind moment – the “God of Cricket” walked back without scoring a single run, the first such failure of his career in that tournament. That episode instantly turned Bhuvneshwar Kumar from a promising youngster into a national star.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s international career kicked off in December 2012 with a series against Pakistan. In his debut T20I, he produced figures of 3/9, and in his very first ODI, he took a wicket with the opening ball he bowled. Half a year later came his Test debut as well (February 2013). We will not go through the athlete’s entire career in detail and will instead focus on its brightest highlights:

• 2013 – won the ICC Champions Trophy with India; received the prestigious Polly Umrigar Award from the BCCI in the Best International Cricketer of the Year category;
• 2014 – earned a place on the Lord’s honours board in England after taking 6 wickets for 82 runs against England
• 2016 – won the Purple Cap in the IPL as the tournament’s leading bowler; became an IPL champion with Sunrisers Hyderabad; member of India’s Asia Cup-winning side;
• 2017 – won the Purple Cap again (26 wickets in 14 matches) and became the first player in league history to claim it in back-to-back seasons;
• 2018 – became the first Indian bowler to record a five-wicket haul in all three international formats (Tests, ODIs, and T20Is); member of India’s Asia Cup 2018-winning team;
• 2019 – received the prestigious Arjuna Award, one of India’s highest state honours for outstanding sporting achievement;
• 2021 – was named ICC Player of the Month for his performances in the series against England;
• 2022 – set a national record in T20I cricket with figures of 5/4 against Afghanistan.

As of today, Bhuvneshwar Kumar continues his professional career, although no longer at the international level. The cricketer remains in excellent shape, and the proof is another trophy in his cabinet – the IPL 2025 championship title with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar teams:

• India, India A, Central Zone, India Blue, India Red, Pune Warriors, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association XI, Australian Institute of Sport, India Emerging Players, Indian Tobacco Company, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Uttar Pradesh.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is number 15 in the cricket competition.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar: Personal Life and Interesting Facts

As for his personal life, the athlete is married to his childhood friend Nupur Nagar. The couple grew up in the same neighborhood in Meerut. It is known that Kumar had to be persistent: he proposed to Nupur three times before finally hearing the long-awaited “yes.” On November 24, 2021, the couple welcomed a daughter, whom they named Acsah.

To wrap things up, here is a short selection of interesting facts about the cricketer and his playing profile:

• The athlete has a dog, a retriever named Alex, and often posts photos with him on social media;
• Kumar follows a vegetarian lifestyle and sticks to strict eating rules, avoiding all animal-derived products;
• His favorite actor is Akshay Kumar, and his favorite actress is Shraddha Kapoor;
• Bhuvneshwar is an ambassador and a fan of the well-known Japanese brand ASICS (sports footwear and apparel);
• In his spare time, he occasionally plays PlayStation video games, though he does not consider himself a gamer.

Bhuvneshwar is a naturally reserved man, and that comes through clearly on his social media pages (Instagram – @imbhuvi, Facebook – @KumarBhuvneshwar and X (formerly Twitter) – @BhuviOfficial). His feed is calm and almost intimate in tone: training shots, family moments, understated congratulatory posts, comments on cricket and only occasional advertising integrations.