Arshdeep Shatters All-Time India T20I Record With Twin Blows In 1st Eng T20I

Pacer Arshdeep Singh on Wednesday became India's all-time leading wicket-taker in T20Is, surpassing leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal in the elite list. Arshdeep achieved the feat during the first T20I of the five-match series against England at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Arshdeep was on 95 wickets heading into the series-opener, just one scalp behind Chahal (96) who is not part of the squad. However, he dismissed England openers Phil Salt and Ben Duckett in the first and third over, respectively.

Arshdeep achieved the feat in just 61 T20Is, having made his debut against England in 2022.

Most wickets for India in T20Is

97 - Arshdeep Singh (61 matches)
96 - Yuzvendra Chahal (80 matches)
90 -Bhuvneshwar Kumar (87 matches)
89 -Jasprit Bumrah (70 matches)
89 -Hardik Pandya (110 matches)

Meanwhile, veteran pacer Mohammed Shami missed out on making his international comeback as India won the toss and elected to bowl first against England.

Shami was highly expected to play his international comeback game, but the wait has now extended as India opted to have a bowling line-up of Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Arshdeep Singh as fast-bowlers, while Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi and Varun Chakaravarthy will handle the spin-bowling department.

For England, Brydon Carse, Jamie Smith, Saqib Mahmood and Rehan Ahmed missed out on selection in the game at Kolkata. " Looks a good wicket, I'm sure it's going to be a good match. There will be some dew around. It's a great ground, it's an honour to play against India in these conditions."

Playing XIs

India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, and Varun Chakaravarthy.

England: Ben Duckett, Philip Salt (wk), Jos Buttler (c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, and Mark Wood

(With IANS Inputs)

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