Staying true to simple plays made the difference. That thought comes from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, RCB’s seam bowler, after their win over CSK. The clash happened Sunday under lights at M Chinnaswamy. A solid 43-run margin lifted Royal Challengers past Chennai. This IPL 2026 game saw Bengaluru keep things grounded. Basics guided their path.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar took 3 wickets for 41 runs across his four overs, hitting a personal milestone along the way. Only one other bowler has reached 200 IPL wickets before him – this makes him the second overall, yet the first among pace bowlers to achieve it. His spell tightened RCB’s grip when they needed control most. Chennai Super Kings stumbled at 207 all out in just under twenty overs. Chasing a steep 251, their lineup folded early and often. The total had been built by Rajat Patidar’s team during their innings.
Out there after the game finished, Bhuvneshwar Kumar pointed out how the M Chinnaswamy strip played tricks – a few deliveries just stuck in the track, yet others met the bat clean. Staying clear of clutter, the group leaned on straightforward thinking, focusing their efforts right into the pitch itself. The field underfoot seemed slow, he noted, plus he fought muscle tightness throughout his time delivering overs.
“It was a tricky surface. Few balls stopped and then suddenly you felt it was a good wicket to bat on. We stuck to our basics. The ground was very heavy. I was cramping as well, was trying to keep the plan simple (and bowl it into the pitch),” Bhuvneshwar said.
Even though the pitch does not help bowlers much when protecting a score, their planning and how they carried things out has gone smoothly. On Tim David smashing 70 runs off just 25 balls, he noted it was striking – yet brought some unease too, given they needed to face the bowling attack later on.
“So yes, like I said, it’s not a big ground to defend or to bowl, but the way we have been doing things, the way we have been preparing, I think it’s coming out well. (on Tim David’s knock) Yes, absolutely. I mean, I wasn’t sure that we should be happy or we should be worried because we had to bowl next,” Bhuvneshwar Kumar said.
That game saw RCB hand CSK their third consecutive defeat in IPL 2026. Batting first, they built a huge total – 250 for three – thanks to fierce hitting from Tim David, who smashed 70, Devdutt Padikkal reaching fifty, along with Rajat Patidar contributing 48.
Fighting back, CSK found runs via Sarfaraz Khan’s fifty along with contributions elsewhere – yet fell short at 207 all out, undone by Bhuvneshwar’s sharp spell: three for forty one
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