Jasprit Bumrah reached a major milestone in T20 cricket during India’s first T20I against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Sunday. The star pacer dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz with just his second delivery of the match to complete 350 wickets in the shortest format. With the landmark, Bumrah became only the third Indian bowler to enter the 350-wicket club.
India won the toss and elected to bowl first, with Afghanistan looking to make a strong start. However, Bumrah had other plans as he provided India with an early breakthrough. The right-arm pacer bowled a short-of-length delivery that climbed sharply on Gurbaz. The Afghanistan opener attempted to pull the ball but could not control the shot, sending it high towards Abhishek Sharma at slip. Abhishek completed the catch, ending Gurbaz’s stay after just two deliveries.
The wicket also brought up Bumrah’s 350th T20 wicket, putting him alongside two other Indian bowlers who have previously reached the landmark.
Shreyas Iyer won the toss and decided to bowl first, backing India’s familiarity with the conditions at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Bumrah’s latest achievement adds another milestone to his decorated career in the format. His ability to make an impact with the new ball once again came to the fore as he struck in the opening over of the contest. “We’re going to bowl first. He also reflected on his stint as India captain and highlighted the positives from the team’s previous series against Zimbabwe. “It’s been a roller coaster ride, but if you see the previous series which we played against Zimbabwe, there were a lot of positives, and the boys were optimistic in their approach. So, that’s the attitude we’ve got to carry in this series as well,” Iyer added.
Before Bumrah, only Yuzvendra Chahal and Bhuvneshwar Kumar had crossed 350 wickets in T20 cricket among Indian bowlers. The decision worked well as India restricted Afghanistan to 156/8.
I mean, when you have played in Delhi, you know what the pitch has got to offer, and we’ve played quite a bit of matches over here,” Iyer said at the toss.
