IPL 2026 Final: Not Bhuvneshwar Kumar Or Yuzvendra Chahal, THIS RCB Star Has Highest Wickets By An Indian In One Season

At 36 years of age, bowling under the floodlights of the Narendra Modi Stadium in front of a packed Ahmedabad crowd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar produced a masterclass in swing and seam bowling that may define the most celebrated chapter of his storied career. A dominant bowling performance from Royal Challengers Bengaluru, led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood, restricted Gujarat Titans to 155/8 in the IPL 2026 Final. With the wicket of Jason Holder in his final over, Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished with figures of 4-0-29-2 and is now level with Kagiso Rabada on 28 wickets this IPL, holding the Purple Cap on account of a superior economy rate. Despite this stellar performance, Kumar is still the second-highest Indian wicket-taker in a single Indian Premier League edition, after former RCB bowler Harshel Patel

That tally places him firmly among the greatest single-season wicket-taking performances by an Indian bowler in IPL history. The record for most wickets by an Indian in an IPL edition stands as follows: Harshal Patel leads the all-time list with 32 wickets for RCB in 2021, followed by Mohammed Shami with 28 for GT in 2023, Bhuvneshwar Kumar with 28 for RCB in 2026, Jasprit Bumrah with 27 for MI in 2020, Yuzvendra Chahal with 27 for RR in 2022, and Mohit Sharma with 27 for GT in 2023. Bhuvneshwar has become the first Indian bowler to take 25 or more wickets in an IPL season for two different teams, having earlier claimed 26 wickets for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2017.

RCB won the toss and opted to bowl first. Shubman Gill, who started positively, was dismissed by Josh Hazlewood for 10 off 8 balls in the third over. In the very next over, Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Sai Sudharsan for 12 as GT lost both in-form openers with just 26 on the board.

Despite brief resistance from Nishant Sindhu and a counterattacking burst from Washington Sundar and Arshad Khan, Gujarat never truly recovered from the early collapse. Bhuvneshwar was exceptional in the death overs, breaking partnerships at crucial moments, while Rasikh Dar's late strikes ensured GT's lower order could not capitalise on aggressive cameos. GT scored just 45 runs in the powerplay, their second-lowest powerplay total of the entire season.

Washington Sundar brought up a fighting half-century of 50 not out off 37 balls to help GT finish at 155/8, providing the only meaningful resistance in a largely subdued batting display. His knock gave GT something to bowl at, but against a rampant RCB bowling unit, 155 always looked below par at this venue.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar won his first IPL title with Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016 and his second with RCB in 2025. He remains the only bowler to win consecutive Purple Caps and holds the all-time IPL record for the most dot balls bowled at 1,793. Tonight, he is one step away from a third title, and history is firmly on his side.