Jasprit Bumrah equals Ravichandran Ashwin’s incredible record for India in T20 World Cup

Jasprit Bumrah, on Sunday (February 22), gave India a flying start with the ball in the Super 8 clash against South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Proteas captain Aiden Markram won the toss and opted to bat first. He also explained the reason behind the decision, saying that the pitch looked good for batting.

“We are going to bat first. It looks like a really good wicket – a lot drier than the previous one we came across here – so we’re not expecting that early tackiness. We think it’s going to be a good surface throughout, and hopefully we can put a nice big score on the board,” said Markram.

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Jasprit Bumrah jolts South Africa:

While Markram and his teammates were expecting a good pitch for batting, they were in for a rude shock. Jasprit Bumrah once again delivered with the ball for India by taking two wickets inside the powerplay. After Arshdeep Singh opened the bowling, Jasprit Bumrah bowled the second over and gave India the early breakthrough by castling Quinton de Kock.

It was a back of a length delivery from the India pace spearhead that pitched just outside off before nipping back in. De Kock tried to slog but was completely beaten as the ball went on to smash the leg stump.

In the third over, Arshdeep joined the party too by taking the big wicket of Markram before Bumrah picked up another wicket in his second over to put India firmly on top. In the fourth over, the right-arm pacer completely outfoxed his Mumbai Indians teammate Ryan Rickelton with a slower delivery.

The slower delivery pitched outside leg and Rickelton failed to read the ball. The Proteas batter was a bit early into the shot and ended up miscuing the ball straight to Shivam Dube at mid-off.

Jasprit Bumrah equals Ravichandran Ashwin’s record:

Jasprit Bumrah has equaled his former teammate Ravichandran Ashwin’s record of most wickets for India in the T20 World Cup with his twin strikes against South Africa. He has moved to 32 wickets in the tournament, drawing level with Ashwin as the joint-highest wicket-taker for India in the T20 World Cup history.

While Ashwin picked up 32 wickets in 24 matches, Bumrah reached the mark in just 22 matches. Bumrah’s teammate Arshdeep Singh is third in the list with 31 wickets, followed by Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja. Both Bumrah and Arshdeep have the opportunity to break Ashwin’s record in the ongoing game itself and they will be eager to do so.

Most wickets for India in T20 World Cup: