Royal Challengers Bengaluru pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar believes he has reached a point in his IPL journey where collective success matters more than personal achievements. The 36-year-old, who is currently the leading wicket-taker in the competition, returned figures of 3 for 28 during RCB\u2019s four-wicket defeat to Gujarat Titans, marking his fifth three-wicket haul of the season and moving him to the top of the bowling standings.<\/p>\n
The outing also brought him the Purple Cap, but Bhuvneshwar was quick to play down what that means for him. In his view, the priorities that come with experience have shifted\u2014team outcomes now sit above individual landmarks.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good that I got the Purple Cap. But I think I have come out of that time where I want to achieve something individually,\u201d Bhuvneshwar said at the post-match press conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, I want to achieve something, but now it\u2019s more of a team. I\u2019m not young anymore. Of course, when you\u2019re young, you want to win those awards, and it comes when you do well.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that even when individual recognition follows good work, the mindset is geared towards contributing to the group\u2019s objectives. \u201cBut when you want to work towards the team\u2019s goal, and you get an individual award or reward, you feel good. But honestly, I\u2019m just trying my best. Getting confidence from the management. That\u2019s all I can say,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Batting first, RCB suffered an unusual collapse and were dismissed for 155. Bhuvneshwar acknowledged that such totals are increasingly difficult to defend in a tournament where chases dominate match narratives.<\/p>\n
He said that chasing has become more manageable across grounds this season. \u201cIf you look at this IPL, chasing is a bit easier in any ground because the way wicket behaves and dew comes. So, yes, it could be different.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also pointed to the match context and the team\u2019s inability to turn their bowling effort into a win. \u201cBut yeah, we didn\u2019t win the toss. We were asked to bat first. We tried our best in bowling. So now the result is that we lost. That\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Explaining RCB\u2019s approach while defending, Bhuvneshwar said the plan was to be aggressive\u2014taking wickets\u2014rather than focusing solely on containing runs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at the scenario, there was some help for seamers, and we had Romario (Shepherd), third seamer. So, we wanted to take a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
He further explained the thinking around Suyash Sharma, suggesting that the risk of allowing him to settle was part of the equation. \u201cAnd Suyash (Sharma) is someone who is not easy to pick. So, we wanted to get wickets as quick as possible. So, that\u2019s the reason he didn\u2019t bowl.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bhuvneshwar concluded that defending the total wasn\u2019t the likely route to victory. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t have won the match by defending runs. We could have won by taking wickets, and the bowlers who bowled were the best bowlers to get those wickets,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
He also admitted that the RCB batting unit\u2014featuring Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Tim David and captain Rajat Patidar\u2014had a rough day with the bat.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook it\u2019s a long tournament 14 matches. You cannot be perfect in each and every match in any department the way we have batted in the whole tournament it\u2019s been good we have scored 200 we have scored more than 200,\u201d Bhuvneshwar said.<\/p>\n
He stressed that the team\u2019s broader season output has been strong, and that an occasional off-game is part of a long campaign. \u201cI think it\u2019s about complementing each other yes we were not up to the mark with the bat it happens. I mean sometimes we give 200 runs but batsmen never complains they go and chase it out so it was our duty to try our best and then we did what we could.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Gujarat Titans, West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder played a key role in the win. He finished with 2\/29 and also took three catches, while contributing 12 runs to help seal the result. His all-round impact earned him the player of the match award.<\/p>\n
Gujarat Titans\u2019 Director of Cricket Vikram Solanki spoke about Holder\u2019s value in the auction, highlighting the ability to contribute in both departments. \u201cWhen we were pursuing Jason at the auction, it was with the mind to him being able to fulfil both roles — the bat and the ball. So he does offer us exactly that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Solanki also pointed to Holder\u2019s recent form, particularly his batting contributions in the middle overs. \u201cHis numbers, if you take a look over the last sort of calendar year and perhaps a little bit longer than that, his numbers at five and six have been quite outstanding.\u201d<\/p>\n
He attributed that production to Holder\u2019s physical and technical toolkit. \u201cAnd that has come about because he, of course, has all of the ability that you need. Physically, a strong guy, has great reach, leverage as far as the bat is concerned, so all the technicalities are covered off,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Royal Challengers Bengaluru pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar believes he has reached a point in his IPL journey where collective success matters more than personal achievements. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"RCB vs Gujarat Titans: Bhuvneshwar Takes Purple Cap","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"RCB pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar tops the wicket charts again with 3\/28 vs Gujarat, but says team success beats the Purple Cap in IPL.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n