Table of Contents
With the purple cap on his head, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had fired warning shots at Kolkata Knight Riders' batter Finn Allen and revealed that they have plans in store against the aggressive batter on a relatively slow pitch in Raipur.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru has been replaced at the top of the table, and hence, they advance to Raipur for their final home match of the season. They will host the Kolkata Knight Riders for the 12th match in the season.
The Royal Challengers have managed to win seven matches so far in this season after having played 11 matches in this season. They earned a tough victory at this venue in the last match against the Mumbai Indians.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar fires stern warning at KKR opener Finn Allen
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been one of the most astonishing cricketers in this season of the competition. He has been a stupendous performer for the Challengers throughout this season, especially with the new ball within the power play.
He is currently at the top of the Purple Cap leaderboard with 21 wickets this season; however, the good news for the Knight Riders is that Allen, the dangerous NZ batter, has returned to some stellar form this season with a century in the last game.
Bhuvneshwar claimed that Allen is known to be a destructive batter, but the pitch once again is likely to favour the bowlers, and hence they have some plans against the lethal KKR opener.
"He's a very destructive batsman. Yes, again, when you have a batsman like this, it's also an opportunity to get them out. But again, the way Wicket played in the last match, it's going to be the same. It won't be easy for him.
"But of course, if it's going to be flat, it won't be easy for bowlers. And yes, there are a few plans against him, what we had. And like we know he's a destructive batsman. We'll look to get him out initially," said Bhuvneshwar before the start of the game.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar pumped up with confidence after heroic six against MI
After that magnificent contribution with the bat, where he shocked all in Raipur with an absolutely spectacular hit over the deep extra cover fielder, which travelled all the way to the boundary and resulted in a massive six that helped them win the match.
"It's very necessary when you do well in the previous matches for your confidence, and when you have confidence, I think I said it before as well, and it always helps you to execute better.
"But of course, [bowling] is always there. That six with a bat, I think not just from that perspective of the match, but again when there are a few matches and situations that come like this, I can feel that I've done it before and I can do it again," added the RCB pacer.
Will the Raipur pitch help bowlers on another occasion?
During the pre-match session, Aaron Finch, the former Australian cricketer, gave a review of the pitch and revealed that it is not the same pitch used in the previous game; however, it looks quite similar to the pitch used on the previous occasion.
"You can see all of these cracks, but you can see some cross-cracks, and that's where you start to get the up and down bounce. And when you look back to the previous game, 14 of the 15 wickets were taken by the quicks," said Finch on the RCB vs KKR pitch.
"It's the variable bounce, the ability for the bowler to really lock into a zone, smash it at that good, hard length, and then they can get that variable bounce. How do you play on this one? Get your pads back on. Back in the good old days, how are you gonna play? I think you have to be prepared to lower your risk, particularly for your first 10 or 12 balls," he added.
ALSO READ: Jasprit Bumrah continues reign at No.1 amid criticism over IPL 2026 performances
