Yuzvendra Chahal poised to surpass Jasprit Bumrah for stunning T20I bowling record
If Chahal picks up seven more wickets in the ongoing five-game series against the West Indies, he will have surpassed the records of Adil Rashid, Chris Jordan, Mark Adair, and Shahid Afridi.
Veteran Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has been one of the successful bowlers in limited-overs cricket. However, he has frequently been left out of the team for important series and major tournaments. Chahal has been crucial for team India in the first T20I against the West Indies, despite the tourists suffering a narrow four-run defeat.
Notably, he picked up two wickets in the opening match, bringing his career total to 93 at an average of 24.40. The 33-year-old is India's leading wicket-taker in T20Is and is now just seven wickets away from becoming the first Indian to reach the 100-wicket mark in the shortest format of the game. If he picks up seven more wickets in the ongoing five-game series against the West Indies, he will have surpassed the records of Adil Rashid, Chris Jordan, Mark Adair, and Shahid Afridi.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who appears to be out of the picture for international cricket at the moment, is second in the list of Indian wicket-takers in the format with 90 wickets. With 72 wickets, veteran Ravichandran Ashwin also seems to be out of contention for the shortest format, followed by Jasprit Bumrah and India captain, Hardik Pandya, both having 70 wickets. Chahal is also the most prolific wicket-taker among Indians in T20 cricket, with 322 scalps at an average of 23.57.
Chahal was dropped from playing XI for West Indies ODIs
Yuzvendra Chahal made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in June 2016 at Harare. The 33-year-old has cemented his position in the team as he finished with excellent figures of 6/25 in the very next series he played and assisted India to a massive 75-run win over England in 2017. Additionally, it was the first occasion an Indian bowler took more than four wickets in a T20I game.
The Haryana-born player was not included in the playing XI for the recently concluded ODI series against the West Indies, which the tourists won 2-1. In the 50-over format, he picked up 121 wickets from 72 games at an average of 27.13 and an economy rate of 5.26.
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