Dubai: Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah surpassed Bhuvneshwar Kumar to become India’s fourth-highest wicket-taker in T20I cricket.
Bumrah achieved the milestone during India’s Asia Cup clash against Pakistan in Dubai. “Jassi Bhai” delivered a disciplined performance, claiming two wickets for 28 runs in four overs at an economy rate of 7.00. His scalps included wicketkeeper-batter Mohammed Haris and Sufiyan Muqeem.
In 72 T20Is, Bumrah now has 92 wickets at an average of 17.67 and an outstanding economy rate of 6.29, with best figures of 3/7. He has surpassed Bhuvneshwar (90 wickets in 87 matches) and trails only Hardik Pandya (95 wickets in 116 matches), spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (96 wickets in 80 matches), and left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh (99 wickets in 63 matches).
Spinner Kuldeep Yadav continued his excellent run against Pakistan, producing a brilliant spell of 3/18, dismissing Sahibzada Farhan, Hassan Nawaz, and Mohammed Nawaz. With this performance, he overtook Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin to become India’s sixth-most successful T20I bowler, now with 76 wickets in 42 matches at an average of 13.10 and an economy rate of 6.66, including best figures of 5/17. In eight international encounters against Pakistan, Kuldeep has 18 wickets at an average of 12.66, with best figures of 5/25.
Axar Patel also moved past Ashwin, becoming India’s seventh-most successful T20I bowler, taking two wickets of Fakhar Zaman and captain Salman Agha. Axar now has 74 wickets in 73 matches at an average of 21.64, with best figures of 3/9. Additionally, he reached the milestone of 200 international wickets, registering 201 wickets in 155 matches at an average of 25.06, including five five-wicket hauls and a ten-wicket haul.
In the match, Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first but were reduced to 6/2 early on. A 39-run partnership between Sahibzada Farhan (40 off 44 balls, including a four and three sixes) and Fakhar Zaman (17 off 15 balls, with three fours) steadied the innings temporarily. India, however, restricted Pakistan to 97/8 before a late surge from Shaheen Shah Afridi (33* off 16 balls, with four sixes) pushed the total to 127/9 in 20 overs.
Kuldeep Yadav emerged as India’s standout bowler, while Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah contributed two wickets each. Hardik Pandya claimed one wicket.
