On Sunday, in the first T20I against Australia in Visakhapatnam, Jasprit Bumrah almost single-handedly pulled off India’s win before Pat Cummins’ last-over heroics helped the visitors edge the Men in Blue in the thriller. Bumrah’s impressive three-fer was hailed by all veteran cricketers including the captain. And now with the second match on Wednesday (February 25), Bumrah stands on the cusp of a massive T20I history.
Bumrah had finished with figures of three for 16 at an economy rate of 4 where he dismissed Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb and Nathan Coulter-Nile. With those three wickets, he became the second Indian cricketer to take 50-plus wickets in T20I cricket after Ravichandran Ashwin. With 51 wickets under his belt now, Bumrah needs to bag two more dismissals to overhaul the veteran offie and become the leading wicket-taker in T20I cricket for India. Although, overall, it would leave him at the 21st position on the list topped by veteran Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi (98 wickets).
After the game, Kohli heaped immense praise on the pacer in the post-match presentation. He said: “Bumrah can do wonders with the ball when it is reversing and did exceptionally well to get us in the game.”
