Veteran Indian pacer joins RCB camp ahead of IPL 2025 [In Pictures]

Veteran India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has joined the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) camp ahead of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL), which is set to begin on March 22. After representing SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) for 11 seasons from 2014 to 2024, Bhuvneshwar will now play for RCB.

The 35-year-old was acquired by the franchise for INR 10.75 crore during the 2025 IPL mega auction. This won’t be Bhuvneshwar's first time representing the Bengaluru-based team, as he made his debut in franchise cricket with RCB during the 2009 Champions League Twenty20.

In that tournament, he played one match against the Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) and finished with figures of 0/31 from four overs.

Now, as he begins his new stint with the franchise, Bhuvneshwar has joined the RCB camp ahead of the 2025 season and was spotted wearing the team's jersey.

The official Instagram account of the franchise shared a couple of pictures with the caption:

“Bhuvi is reunited with RCB finally, and our threads fit him perfectly. Here’s wishing a super happy #Homecoming for our Swing King.”

Overall, the 35-year-old pacer has played 176 IPL matches, claiming 181 wickets, making him the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the tournament. He has also won the Purple Cap twice, in the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

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Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s schedule for IPL 2025

Royal Challengers Bengaluru will kick off their IPL 2025 campaign with a match against defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders on March 22. Here’s the complete IPL 2025 schedule for the Royal Challengers:

March 22: KKR vs RCB - 7:30 pm, Kolkata

March 28: CSK vs RCB - 7:30 pm, Chennai

April 2: RCB vs GT - 7:30 pm, Bengaluru

April 7: MI vs RCB - 7:30 pm, Mumbai

April 10: RCB vs DC - 7:30 pm, Bengaluru

April 13: RR vs RCB - 3:30 pm, Jaipur

April 18: RCB vs PBKS - 7:30 pm, Bengaluru

April 20: PBKS vs RCB - 3:30 pm, Mullanpur

April 24: RCB vs RR - 7:30 pm, Bengaluru

April 27: DC vs RCB - 7:30 pm, Delhi

May 3: RCB vs CSK - 7:30 pm, Bengaluru

May 9: LSG vs RCB - 7:30 pm, Lucknow

May 13: RCB vs SRH - 7:30 pm, Bengaluru

May 17: RCB vs KKR - 7:30 pm, Bengaluru

Meanwhile, the team will be led by Rajat Patidar.