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India's star spinner Yuzvendra Chahal achieved a feat in the first T20I against Sri Lanka as Rohit & Co. claimed a comprehensive 62-run victory to continue their winning run on Thursday (February 24) in Lucknow.
Chahal became the most wicket taker in T20Is for India as he surpassed Jasprit Bumrah in the same pursuit. The 31-year-old snared 67 wicket in a total of 53 T20I to surpass Bumrah, who has 66 wickets from 55 innings. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is third on the list with 61 wickets from 51 games.
Chahal reached the mark by removing Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka, who picked out Bhuvneshwar Kumar at backward point, while trying to execute a revere-sweep.
Chahal made his T20I debut in June 2016 against Zimbabwe in Harare. However, it was in a T20I series against England later in the season that he made himself a mainstay in the squad.
However, Indians are far behind in the list of world’s highest wicket-takers in T20 cricket. Only one Indian is in the top 20. Jaspreet Bumrah is currently ranked 18th in the list.
Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan is the highest wicket-taker in T20 cricket. He has taken 117 wickets in 94 matches. Second is Team Southee, who has taken 111 wickets in 92 matches. Former Sri Lankan bowler Lasith Malinga has taken 107 wickets. Ajanta Mendis, Nuwan Kulasekara, Mitchell Santner and Jaspreet Bumrah have 66 scalps.
Meawhile, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer smashed fifties as India managed to post a colossal total of 199/2 against Sri Lanka. Ishan led the charge with a brisk 89 before Shreyas powered India's innings with an unbeaten 57 off just 28 balls. Ishan and Rohit Sharma had added 111 runs for the opening wicket before the latter was dismissed on 44. Ishan and Shreyas then added 44 for the second wicket before the latter and Jadeja added 44 to help India's cause.
Batting second, Sri Lanka's batting failed to click as Indian bowlers didn't give them even a narrow chance to settle and kept on charging them by taking wickets in regular intervals. The Lankan innings was folded to just 137/6 in their stipulated 20 overs. Charith Asalanka remained the lone performer for Sri Lanka with an unbeaten 53 off 47. Meanwhile, other than Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar scalped 2/9 while Venkatesh Iyer notches 2/36. Ravindra Jadeja, who was making a comeback after a long injury hiatus, had to settle with mere one wicket.
