West Indies v India 2023

Kuldeep Yadav becomes fastest Indian to 50 Men’s T20I wickets | WI v IND

by Wisden Staff August 8, 2023 - 5:01pm 15 minute read

During the third Twenty20 International of the five-match series between India and West Indies, Kuldeep Yadav became the fastest Indian to reach 50 wickets in men’s T20Is.

After missing the second T20I due to an injury, Kuldeep Yadav returned to the Indian side for the third. Two-down in the series, India need to win all three matches to win the series.

Hardik Pandya got Kuldeep to bowl just after the powerplay, but took him off after his first over went for 12. He was recalled in the 11th over, where he gave away only three runs and trapped Johnson Charles leg-before.

Nicholas Pooran, in ominous form of late, took Kuldeep on in the next over, smashing an enormous six over long on and reverse slog-sweeping over cover for four off consecutive balls.

But Kuldeep had his revenge in his final over, where he claimed two wickets for a solitary run. He beat Pooran in flight to have him stumped, and caught Brandon King off his own bowling to finish with 3-28 from four overs.

The triple-strike took Kuldeep to the 50-wicket mark. His unusual brand of bowling – left-arm wrist-spin – was already being talked about when he debuted in the format in the 2017, and he left an instant mark. He has had his lows, but none of that prevented him from setting an Indian record.

Kuldeep took 30 matches to reach the 50-wicket mark, comfortably beating Yuzvendra Chahal’s Indian record of 34 T20Is. Among Indians, Jasprit Bumrah (41), R Ashwin (42), and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (50) have also reached there at a rate of at least one wicket per match.

Overall, Kuldeep is the third-fastest among cricketers from ICC Full Member nations (after Ajantha Mendis and Mark Adair) and the sixth-fastest overall to the landmark.