Winning the Purple Cap twice means you’ve had an extraordinary year – Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar chronicled the feat of landing two back-to-back purple caps, becoming the only cricketer to do so. In 2016, while playing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, he claimed 23 wickets, following that up with 26 scalps in 2017. Achieving a feat like that requires significant accuracy and clinical execution.

Talking on RCB Bold Diaries, Bhuvneshwar Kumar opened up about his time at SRH where he achieved an unparalleled record. He also discussed what followed and how the T20 format can be merciless at times. Despite the odds, he was quick to point out that his death bowling improved significantly during that period.

Bhuvi said, “Those two seasons with SRH where bowling became good, where I got the Purple Cap, the season before that as well, that improved my death bowling because swinging with the new ball was something I always had. The years after that, when I was in SRH, I know you won’t find success every year. But winning the Purple Cap twice, it means you’ve had an extraordinary year. It doesn’t happen every year.”

Adding further, he said, “After that year, I had one more season and then I had some injuries as well. When you have an injury, then you struggle somewhere because you cannot give your 100 percent. This is a format where if you don’t give 100 percent, even 1 percent makes a difference in execution.”