Hyderabad: India's T20 World Cup-winning team member Arshdeep Singh is on the cusp of breaking Bhuvaneshwar Kumar's all-time India record in T20I cricket as he has the chance of becoming the Indian bowler to pick most wickets in a Calendar year in the men's T20I cricket.
Arshdeep has picked up 28 wickets in 14 matches at an economy rate of 7.14 with his best figures of 4-0-9-4 against the United States of America (USA) in the T20 World Cup earlier this year.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar currently holds the record for taking 37 wickets from 32 matches at an economy rate of 6.98, followed by Arshdeep himself having taken 33 wickets from 21 games at an economy rate of 8.17. Both the bowlers have taken all these wickets in the year 2022.
The left-arm pacer, who played for Punjab Kings in the IPL last year, has a great chance to go past Bhuvneshwar’s record in India’s upcoming three-match T20I series against South Africa.
Arshdeep is also fourth in the list of most wickets by an Indian in Men’s T20Is. In 56 matches, he has taken 87 wickets at an economy rate of 8.28 with two four-wicket hauls to his name. He also needs to take 10 or more wickets in the series to become India’s leading wicket-taker in Men’s T20Is. Yuzvendra Chahal is currently leading the most T20I wickets for India tally with 96 wickets, followed by Bhuvaneshwar (90 wickets), and Jasprit Bumrah (89).
Arshdeep also needs 13 wickets to become the first Indian man and only the second Indian after Deepti Sharma to take 100 wickets in T20Is.
The first T20I is scheduled to take place on Friday, November 8 at the Kingsmead in Durban. Gqeberha, Centurion and Johannesburg will host the remaining three T20Is on November 10, 13 and 15 respectively.
