India will lock horns against England in the second T20I of the five-game series on Saturday, July 4 at the Old Trafford in Manchester. It will be an important clash for the Men in Blue, as they are coming after a disastrous tour of Ireland. Notably the first T20 against the Three Lions was abandoned because of heavy rain.
Big chance for Axar Patel
However, there are a few good areas to look upon as India's star spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel has a chance of reaching a major milestone in T20I cricket. If the left-arm spinning all-rounder manages to retain his place in the second T20I, then will need only one wicket to become first spinner to take 100 T20I wickets for India. Axar, who played his first T20I against Zimbabwe has managed to take 99 wickets in 97 games so far.
Most T20I wickets for India:
| Player | Matches | Wickets | Best Figures | 5-Wkt Hauls |
| Arshdeep Singh | 87 | 131 | 5/51 | 1 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | 95 | 121 | 4/15 | 0 |
| Hardik Pandya | 138 | 114 | 4/16 | 0 |
| Axar Patel | 97 | 99 | 3/9 | 0 |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 80 | 96 | 6/25 | 1 |
| Kuldeep Yadav | 54 | 95 | 5/17 | 2 |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 87 | 90 | 5/42 | ? |
| Varun Chakaravarthy | 46 | 73 | 5/17 | 2 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 65 | 72 | 4/8 | 0 |
| Ravi Bishnoi | 45 | 64 | 4/13 | 0 |
So far, only three Indian bowlers have managed to reach 100 wickets in the T20Is - Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya. As of now, Axar Patel stands at the fourth place with 99 wickets in 97 outings.
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At the first place, star pacer Arshdeep Singh has managed to take a whopping 131 wickets in just 87 games, Bumrah has clinched 121 scalps in 95 games. While star fast-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya has managed to take 114 wickets after playing 138 T20Is.
When it comes to the spinners, Axar sits ahead of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav on the list. Chahal has taken 96 wickets in 80 T20I appearances for India, while Kuldeep Yadav has picked up 95 scalps from just 54 games.
How did Axar Patel perform in IPL 2026?
While leading Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, Axar endured an underwhelming individual campaign with both bat and ball. In 14 matches, Axar managed to take just 11 wickets at an economy rate of 8.18 and a bowling average of 32.73. He registered his best bowling figures of 2/18 in a game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
With the bat, Axar failed to contribute much despite coming up in the order, scoring only 173 runs at an average of 19.22 with the strike rate of 131.06. He recorded his best score of 56 in a league stage game against Punjab Kings (PBKS).