Hardik Pandya overtakes Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah in legendary list after taking 2 wickets against England

Hardik Pandya played his first match for Team India on Wednesday (January 22) when the men in blue played England in the first T20I at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

The all-Indian played a key role with the ball as India thrashed England by seven wickets to take the lead in the series. Asked to bat first, England were bowled out for a modest total of 132 runs. They were 74/4 at the end of the 10th over and looked set to post a challenging total of over 150.

However, India’s bowlers did not let England finish their innings strongly and restricted them to a modest total. Captain Jos Buttler fought a lone battle for England, scoring 68 runs off 44 balls with the help of eight fours and a couple of sixes.

Apart from Buttler, no other England player could reach the 20-run mark. For India, Varun Chakravarthy was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3 wickets for 23 runs from his 4 overs. On the other hand, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singhi Axar Patel took two wickets each.

Read also: Look: 4, 4, 6, 4, 4! Sanju Samson destroys Gus Atkinson in the 1st T20I at the Eden Gardens

With the bat, India chased down the total with utmost ease. The hosts crossed the finish line in the 14th over by losing just 3 wickets. opener Abhishek Sharma starred with the bat, smashing 79 runs off just 34 balls with the help of 5 fours and 8 sixes. Sanju Samson also started but did not last long and departed for 26 runs.

Hardik Pandya moves ahead of Jasprit Bumrah:

The two wickets in the first T20I against England have helped Hardik Pandya overtake Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the list of Indian bowlers with most wickets in the shortest format of the game.

Before the start of the game, Hardik Pandya was fifth on the list with 89 wickets. He was at par with Bumrah in wickets and one wicket shy of Bhuvneshwar’s tally. The two wickets took his tally to 91 in T20Is, ahead of Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah.

He is now third in the overall list behind Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep. Meanwhile, Arshdeep broke Chahal’s record in the same game to become India’s all-time leader in T20Is. The left-arm pacer now has 97 wickets, one more than Chahal.