Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a veteran speedster, discussed how his connection with Virat Kohli has altered since they helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) win their first IPL title this year.
Bhuvneshwar stated that when he and Kohli were not married, their interactions were largely about fun and joking. However, the two veterans of Indian cricket are increasingly discussing family concerns.
“Things are different now. When we meet these days, we talk more about family or off-the-ground family matters because everyone has a family now. We talk about how we are doing in life other than cricket. Earlier, when we weren’t married and were younger, it was more about the usual fun and jokes boys have. So that’s where the change has come,” Bhuveshwar said while speaking on the YouTube podcast ‘Talk with Manvendra’.
Bhuvneshwar mentioned that both he and Kohli are professional cricketers and know what kind of service RCB needs from them.
“But I think on the ground we are professional. We never really need that bond to perform well on the field because if RCB has picked me, or picked Virat, or any other player, they want us to perform well on the ground regardless of whether we have a friendship or not. I think we know what we have to do on the ground. But off the ground, of course, as I said, things have changed in that way. Everyone has matured, and of course, we’ve grown older, so now the conversations are different,” he added.
‘I think Rajat Patidar didn’t have to do much’ – Bhuvneshwar Kumar on RCB captain and the triumphant IPL 2025 campaign
Bhuvneshwar played under Rajat Patidar‘s captaincy for the first time in IPL 2025. The Uttar Pradesh pacer said that there was a lot of experience in the RCB side and Patidar didn’t have to do much. However, Bhuvneshwar did praise the Madhya Pradesh batter for not interfering too much and only chipped in when important decisions were to be made.
“It was very good. The best part was that since it was such an experienced team, I think Rajat didn’t have to do much. The best thing was that he didn’t interfere too much, but the areas where he did show leadership were exactly what is needed on the ground, that the leader should take decisions, and he took them very well.
Because somewhere, when you have so many senior players and such an experienced team, they tend to hesitate in making decisions, but he didn’t. That was a quality of his leadership, that where it was needed, he made decisions, and where it wasn’t, he stayed completely relaxed. So, I think he knew exactly where to interfere in a good way and where not to,” Bhuvneshwar said.
Speaking about what clicked for RCB in IPL 2025, Bhuvneshwar mentioned that all the players in the team won matches from different situations while playing different roles. Not relying on just a few players turned out to be huge positive for RCB, feels the right-arm fast bowler.
“This time, the biggest difference was that all the players in the playing XI won matches for the team in different games, in different situations, and in different roles. When you play such a big tournament with so many matches and so many teams, you can’t win the tournament based on the consistent performances of just one or two players. You need as many players as possible from your 11 or 12-member squad to perform.
That’s exactly what happened with RCB. There were many matches where the bowlers did their job and many matches where the batters did it. As I said, in every situation, at every stage, some new player stepped up and won the game for the team,” the 35-year-old explained.
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