Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Josh Hazlewood lauded teammate Bhuvneshwar Kumar for firing on all cylinders in the PowerPlay and making his job easier this season.
“He gets wickets every game; he keeps the runs down. It’s pretty nice to have in your team. He’s got a lot of knowledge on the people we’re coming up against, the grounds we’re playing at.
“Even though we’re different bowlers, it’s still very useful information for not just me but the whole bowling attack. So, an experienced Indian quick of his calibre, we’re pretty lucky to have him in the team. If every team could have a player like that to lead the way and the others sort of jump on the back of him, then they’d be pretty happy with that,” Hazlewood said after RCB’s 23-run win over Punjab Kings on Sunday that sealed its Playoffs qualification.
The Australian quick added that not necessarily chasing after wickets is what has helped RCB’s bowlers keep up their intensity and effectiveness through the middle overs.
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“There are times where you’ve to weigh those decisions up through the middle overs, on whether it’s trying to shut down the scoring through defensive bowling or keep trying to take wickets.
“But in the PowerPlay, it seems to be, I’m probably guessing the wrong way a few times these days, but Bhuvi’s on fire. So I’m sort of covering those other bases [of keeping the runs in check,” he said.
Virat Kohli notched up another half-century in the contest on Sunday and is the third veteran in the team, along with Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar, who has been instrumental in changing RCB’s fortunes.
On how the troika keeps up with the ever-rising demands of modern T20, Hazlewood said: “I think in terms of experience, players who have almost gone in transition with the T20 game, you’ve just got to keep adapting. We’ve seen Virat, from a batter’s point of view, the strike rate just keeps going up and up as the years go by. He’s trying to find ways to score quicker and he’s going to score his 70 off 30 differently to someone else.
“And then in terms of bowling, it’s doing your homework. It’s trying to know where these young guys are going to try and hit you, how they move around the crease, how you combat that. So, it’s hard when you first see them. They potentially have got the upper hand because I haven’t seen them bat, but they’ve seen me bowl a lot. So it’s, I guess, how quickly you can learn out there in the middle, how quickly that communication piece goes around in the bowling group is crucial.”
Published on May 17, 2026