Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
The highly anticipated IPL 2025 mega auction, which will decide the fate of 577 shortlisted players, is currently underway at the Abady Al Johar Arena in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. With just 204 slots up for grabs, including 70 overseas ones, only a select few out of 367 Indian and 210 overseas players will be picked by the Indian Premier League (IPL) teams for the 2025 season.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is one of the sought after Indian players in the mega auction, has been signed by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for INR 10.75 Cr. After the five-time champions Mumbai Indians opened the bid for the Indian yorker specialist, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) joined the race. However, with the bid crossing INR 10 Crore mark, Mumbai dropped out of the race with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) becoming the new contender. With a limited price purse with LSG, RCB finally secured his services for INR 10.75 Crore.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar IPL Career
After being released by Sunrisers Hyderabad ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, Bhuvneshwar Kumar registered himself for a base price of INR 2 Crore, following which the organising committee listed him in the Capped fast bowlers 2. The 34-year-old is known for swinging the ball both ways in the powerplay and using clever variations in the middle and death overs.
Bhuvneshwar started his IPL career in 2011 with Pune Warriors India. He played three seasons with them and took 24 wickets. In 2014, he joined Sunrisers Hyderabad and became one of their most important players. His best years were in 2016 and 2017 when he won the Purple Cap in back-to-back seasons. He also helped Sunrisers win the IPL trophy in 2016 by defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final.
In total, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has played 176 IPL matches and taken 181 wickets with an economy of 7.56. He is the fourth-highest wicket-taker in IPL history. He has excellent skills to swing the ball in the early overs and is a reliable option for death overs as well as for breaking partnerships in the middle overs.
