Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin picked Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s performance against Mumbai Indians as the highest point of IPL 2026 for RCB. Kumar bagged 4-23 against the five-time champions in the league phase match.

The swing bowler accounted for Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma in that game. RCB eventually registered a thrilling two-wicket win against MI after Bhuvneshwar Kumar smashed a six when nine runs were needed off the last three balls.

Thus, Kumar was awarded Player of the Match for his all-round performance. Meanwhile, the experienced fast bowler from Uttar Pradesh was one of the biggest positives for RCB and played a key role in taking his team to glory.

Kumar scalped 28 wickets in 16 matches of IPL 2026 at an average of 17.89 and an impressive economy rate of 7.95. The discarded Indian seamer got regular breakthroughs in the Powerplay overs and then also bowled accurately in the death overs.

Bhuvneshwar ended the tournament as the second highest wicket-taker after Gujarat Titans’ pack leader Kagiso Rabada, who bagged the Purple Cap after taking 29 wickets in 17 matches.

On the other hand, Ashwin hailed RCB for their incredible run in the recently concluded season. The former spinner rated Rajat Patidar’s team performance as 10.5/10 and praised the team management for playing Jacob Duffy and Venkatesh Iyer in the final league stage match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

“I’ll give RCB 10.5/10. Reason for the extra half is that they didn’t just pick a 11 for the sake of it. Even after qualifying, they used the final SRH match to play Jacob Duffy and open with Venkatesh Iyer as a trial for the playoffs,” said Ashwin on his YouTube Channel.

With his title win, RCB became the third team after Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings to successfully defend their IPL crown.