The Race to the Playoffs in TATA IPL 2026 has intensified, with as many as eight teams still in contention. Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda, Irfan Pathan, Mohammad Kaif, and Piyush Chawla shared their thoughts on what Bhuvneshwar Kumar has done right this season and the thrilling race for qualification to the top four.
Irfan Pathan spoke about why Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been so successful in TATA IPL 2026 for RCB:
“Bhuvneshwar has an amazing and highly repeatable action. He has had a 16-year-long TATA IPL career and hasn’t changed his action one bit. When you have the same action for such a long period, you can hit the areas you want to target. At the same time, his wrist position, and the way he manoeuvres it, is masterful, with very little change in seam position, whether he is bowling the inswinger or moving it away, and all of it with so much control. When a bowler is running in at a certain speed, you only get a fraction of a second to react, and he has the ability to land the ball exactly where he wants to with the right fields. That’s where experience comes into play.”
Mohammad Kaif elaborated on the reasons behind increasing number of dropped catches:
“With fielding, if you work hard, you will always get the reward. IPL is a long tournament and, after a month or so, I feel the intensity drops a few notches because of fatigue. Players continue to focus on their primary skills, batting and bowling, but with fielding, after a point, they often just go through the motions in training. If you want to improve your standards, you have to create match intensity during fielding sessions, match the ball speed of an actual game, and let the ball hit your palms hard, that’s how you get better. When I was a fielding coach, I made players take short distance catches first, which tested their reflexes and improved footwork. Then we moved to high catches under lights. That’s where Ajinkya Rahane, who was with me at DC as well, stood out. He used to come to the ground early and always started with catching practice. He is one of the safest fielders and has taken some brilliant catches this season too.”
Piyush Chawla reckoned that CSK could break into the top four:
“I feel Chennai have a decent chance. We talk a lot about momentum in T20 cricket, and they have that after winning their last three matches. They are playing some really good cricket. Their batters are doing the job, but it is the bowlers, Anshul Kamboj, the spin duo of Noor and Akeal Hosein, and Jamie Overton in the middle overs, who are making the difference. They are restricting teams to totals in the 180-200 range. A score of 200 has become the norm, but when you restrict teams to scores below that, the batters also have breathing space, and CSK’s bowlers have managed to provide that of late. RR are also in contention, but a lot will depend on how Vaibhav Suryavanshi plays in the next three matches. The rest of the players will also have to start making decisive contributions, something that has been missing so far.”
