Bhuvneshwar Kumar's Incredible Hat-Trick and Triple-Wicket Maiden in SMAT Prompts Calls for Immediate Selection in Australia Tour

Indian fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar marked his entry into the Royal Challengers Bangalore – his new IPL team – by achieving a hat-trick in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Leading the Uttar Pradesh team, Bhuvneshwar delivered a remarkable performance with figures of 3/6 against Jharkhand, securing a 10-run victory. What set this feat apart was the fact that he bowled three consecutive wickets in a single over, also managing to keep it a maiden over.

With Jharkhand chasing 161 to win, Bhuvneshwar, bowling the 17th over, dismissed Robin Minz, Bal Krishna and Vivekanand Tiwari off the first three balls. He followed it up with three more dot balls to add the sweet cherry of a maiden over on top. His teammates Nitish Rana and Mohsin Khan grabbed two wickets each as UP overcame Anukul Roy's blistering 91 to notch up the win. Despite the win, Uttar Pradesh are languishing at the sixth position in Group B with 8 points.

Bhuvneshwar, who has now taken his wickets tally to 9 in the tournament, was picked up by Royal Challengers Bengaluru two weeks ago at the 2025 IPL mega-auction Jeddah. The once spearhead of India's pace-bowling attack, Bhuvneshwar's decade-long association with Sunrisers Hyderabad ended when the franchise released him; however, as the old adage goes, when one door closes, another one opens. For Bhuvneshwar, that door was opened by RCB, who shelled ₹10.75 crore to get Bhuvi.

Before this, Bhuvneshwar was coming off another three-wicket-haul – 3/28 – against Haryana, but his hat-trick on Thursday sent the internet into a frenzy as fans erupted with joy seeing their original Indian swing-king bowl just like he did in the old days. In fact, some even wanted the selectors to send Bhuvneshwar on the next flight to Australia.

Here are some of the posts:

Bhuvneshwar's last match for India was against India at Napier in November 2022, shortly after the T20 World Cup. It has been over two years since Bhuvi returned to the national fold. The reasons are many, including injuries and lack of form, to name a few, but Bhuvneshwar makes it a point to turn up each year in the IPL and put on a show. Last year, he picked up 16 wickets from 14 matches and took 11 wickets this year in SRH's road to the final.