Arshdeep Singhon Wednesday (January 22), added another feather to his cap as he became India’s all-time leading wicket-taker in T20Is. The left-arm pacer achieved the feat during the first T20I between India and England at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Arshdeep Singh needed just two wickets in the game to break Yuzvendra Chahal’s record of taking most T20I wickets for India. And he needed less than two overs to achieve the incredible milestone. He first dismissed Phil Salt in the first over of the game before returning Ben Duckett in the third over to break Chahal’s record of 96 wickets.
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While it took Chahal 80 matches to take 96 wickets, it took Arshdeep Singh just 61 matches to reach his tally and also overtake him. He is also the only Indian pacer to take more than 90 wickets in the shortest format of the game. He now has 97 wickets in 61 matches and is looking to become the first Indian bowler to take 100 wickets in T20Is.
Most wickets by an Indian player in T20Is:
| Player | Matches | Wickets |
| Arshdeep Singh | 61 | 97 |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 80 | 96 |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 87 | 90 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | 70 | 89 |
| Hardik Pandya | 110 | 89 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 65 | 72 |
| Kuldeep Yadav | 40 | 69 |
| Axar Patel | 67 | 65 |
| Ravi Bishnoi | 38 | 56 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 74 | 54 |
Meanwhile, the overall record for most wickets in T20Is is held by former New Zealand pacer Tim Southee. He brought down the curtains on his illustrious career after claiming 164 wickets in 126 T20Is. Rashid Khan is second on the list, followed by Shakib Al Hasan, Ish Sodhi and Mustafizur Rahman in the top five.
Arshdeep Singh put India in the driver’s seat:
Arshdeep Singh’s brilliant spell in the powerplay put India in the driving seat in the first T20I. The pacer gave the hosts a flying start by dismissing the dangerous Phil Salt for a duck in the first over. In his next over, he sent back Ben Duckett to reduce England to 17 for 2.
Captain Jos Buttler and Harry Brook then steadied the ship with a 48-run stand. Just when England seemed to have recovered, Varun Chakravarthy took two wickets in the 8th minute to put India back in front.
He broke the stand by dismissing Harry Brook for 17 before sending back the dangerous Liam Livingstone for a duck. At the time of writing, England were at 69/4 in the 9th over with Buttler and Jacob Bethell in the middle. Buttler was batting on 44 while Bethell was unbeaten on 2.
