Arshdeep Singh became the highest wicket-taker for India in men's T20Is during the course of the first match against England at the Eden Gardens today (January 22).
India opted to bowl first in the first T20I of the five-match series as Mohammed Shami's expected comeback was delayed. India picked three specialist spinners with Arshdeep Singh as the lone specialist seamer in the lineup.
Whose record did Arshdeep Singh break?
The left-arm seamer was sitting on 95 T20I wickets, one shy of Yuzvendra Chahal's tally of 96, the highest for India in men's T20I. He dismissed opener Phil Salt in the first over of the match to equal Chahal on 96 wickets before going past him in his next over, getting Ben Duckett caught at cover.
India's across-gender record for the most T20I wickets is held by off-spinner Deepti Sharma, who has 138 wickets in women's T20Is, the third-highest of all time in the format at the time of writing.
Who are the top men's T20I wicket-takers for each Full Member?
Tim Southee is the leading wicket-taker of all time in men's T20Is with 164 wickets. Afghanistan's Rashid Khan is next with 161 scalps. Bangladesh has two players in the top five - Shakib Al Hasan (149) and Mustafizur Rahman (132).
Among teams to have won the men's T20 World Cup, India and West Indies are the only teams whose top wicket-takers don't have 100 wickets as of now in the format.
| Country | Player | Men's T20I wickets |
| New Zealand | Tim Southee | 164 |
| Afghanistan | Rashid Khan | 161 |
| Bangladesh | Shakib Al Hasan | 149 |
| Sri Lanka | Wanindu Hasaranga | 131 |
| Ireland | Mark Adair | 127 |
| England | Adil Rashid | 126 |
| Australia | Adam Zampa | 117 |
| Pakistan | Haris Rauf | 110 |
| India | Arshdeep Singh | 97 |
| South Africa | Tabraiz Shamsi | 89 |
| Zimbabwe | Sikandar Raza | 79 |
| West Indies | Dwayne Bravo | 78 |
India's top T20I wicket-takers
| Player | Matches | Wickets |
| Deepti Sharma (W) | 124 | 138 |
| Poonam Yadav (W) | 72 | 98 |
| Arshdeep Singh (M) | 61 | 97 |
| Radha Yadav (W) | 84 | 97 |
| Yuzvendra Chahal (M) | 80 | 96 |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar (M) | 87 | 90 |
| Jasprit Bumrah (M) | 70 | 89 |
| Hardik Pandya (M) | 110 | 89 |
| R Ashwin (M) | 65 | 72 |
| Kuldeep Yadav (M) | 40 | 69 |
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