Yuzvendra Chahal equals Bhuvneshwar Kumar to become India's second leading wicket-taker in T20Is

Veteran Indian legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal enjoyed another memorable outing against Sri Lanka in the T20I series decider in Rajkot. The leggie scalped two wickets in the match, with the second wicket taking his tally to 90 wickets in T20Is, the joint most by any Indian men's cricketer in the format, along with veteran Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

India completed a comprehensive victory in the series finale after posting a daunting total of 228 runs, thanks to a stupendous century from Suryakumar Yadav, his third in T20Is. The hosts were in the ascendency after the in-form Axar Patel broke the deadlock for India. His senior bowling partner, Chahal handed his side complete control of the match after dismissing the dangerous pair of Dhananjaya de Silva and Charith Asalanka.

The 32-year-old made his T20I debut for India during the Zimbabwe tour in 2016 and has been a mainstay since then. The canny bowler is renowned for enticing the batters into playing a false shot, providing a wicket-taking option for his skipper. While it took his compatriot Bhuvneshwar Kumar 86 matches to scalp 90 wickets for India, Chahal needed just 74 games to equal that tally. He would be looking to reach the landmark of taking the most wickets for his team in T20Is in the upcoming T20I series against New Zealand.

Yuzvendra Chahal lauded Axar Patel's impact in the series

The wily spinner was all praise for his young spin-bowling partner Axar Patel, who was named the Player of the Series for his prolific outing with the bat. He was spot-on with his bowling as well, providing India with much-needed balance in the absence of Ravindra Jadeja. Chahal praised the batting ability of the southpaw labeling him a 'perfect package' for the Indian team.

"Axar has always done his best. It's not that he just started batting and bowling (well). I think he is a perfect package and the way he is batting at the moment, it is difficult to bowl him as well. He has a huge reach and strikes cleanly which is a great thing," Chahal said to the broadcasters after the series win in Rajkot.

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS App Store and Google Play Store