Out-of-favour Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar will lead Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)’s fast bowling attack in the IPL 2026 opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad. In the match scheduled to take place at M
Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday (March 28), Bhuvneshwar will have a chance to enter his name in the history books. If the 36-year-old cricketer from Meerut, who also played in the IPL for SRH in the past, manages to take at least two wickets on Saturday, then he will become the first fast bowler in the tournament’s history to take 200 wickets.
As of now, Bhuvneshwar has 198 wickets to his name in 190 IPL matches for three teams. Apart from RCB and SRH, the right-arm pacer has played three seasons for Pune Warriors India as well. He in fact made his IPL debut as a PWI player in 2011 and picked up a total of 24 wickets in 31 matches for them.
In the list of fast bowlers with most wickets in IPL history, Bhuvneshwar, who last played for the Indian men’s cricket team in 2022, is followed by Jasprit Bumrah and Dwayne Bravo.
Bumrah, who has been associated with Mumbai Indians in the IPL since 2013, has 183 wickets to his name in 145 matches, whereas Bravo finished his IPL career with 183 wickets in 161 matches for three teams – Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Lions.
Most wickets in IPL by fast bowlers
| BOWLER | TEAM(S) | MATCHES | WICKETS | BEST FIGURES | 5-WKT HAULS |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | RCB, PWI, SRH | 190 | 198 | 5/19 | 2 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | MI | 145 | 183 | 5/10 | 2 |
| Dwayne Bravo | MI, CSK, GL | 161 | 183 | 4/22 | 0 |
| Lasith Malinga | MI | 122 | 170 | 5/13 | 1 |
| Harshal Patel | DC, RCB, SRH, PBKS | 119 | 151 | 5/27 | 1 |
| Sandeep Sharma | PBKS, RR, SRH | 137 | 146 | 5/18 | 1 |
| Umesh Yadav | DC, GT, KKR, RCB | 148 | 144 | 4/23 | 0 |
| Trent Boult | KKR, SRH, DC, MI, RR | 120 | 143 | 4/18 | 0 |
| Mohit Sharma | CSK, DC, GT, PBKS | 120 | 134 | 5/10 | 1 |
| Mohammed Shami | KKR, DC, PBKS, SRH, GT | 119 | 133 | 4/11 | 0 |
So far, only one bowler has managed to take 200 or more wickets in the IPL, and that player is Yuzvendra Chahal. Chahal, who will represent Punjab Kings in the cash-rich league this year, has 221 wickets to his name in 174 matches for four teams – Mumbai Indians, RCB, Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings.
The world record of taking most wickets in T20s is held by Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan. Rashid, who is part of the Gujarat Titans IPL 2026 squad, has accounted for the dismissal of 702 batters in 519 matches played so far for 18 teams around the globe.
