India vs Sri Lanka: Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal locked in engaging battle to break R Ashwin’s T20I record
Ind vs SL: The right-arm pacer was ruled out of the series against South Africa, Bangladesh and West Indies due to a stress fracture last year, but has regained fitness to find a spot in the T20I squad against Sri Lanka.
Jasprit Bumrah’s comeback was washed away by the rain in Guwahati, but the pacer will take control of the ball in Indore where India and Sri Lanka will lock horns for the second T20I. The right-arm pacer was ruled out of the series against South Africa, Bangladesh and West Indies due to a stress fracture last year, but has regained fitness to find a spot in the T20I squad against Sri Lanka.
As has been the norm with the fast bowler, he is on the cusp of a massive T20I record on Sunday. The 27-year-old has 51 wickets in T20Is at the moment. If he manages to take two more wickets, he would surpass R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal to become the leading wicket-taker in the shortest format for India.
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Ashwin and Chahal are currently tied at the top spot as the leading wicket-takers for India in T20Is with 52 wickets each. Chahal, who is in the squad for the series, could also be a part of India’s playing XI, and break Ashwin’s record to become the sole-holder of the record. He needs just one wicket to do so.
“Because the tournament (World T20 2020) is in Australia, you will need these many options and back-ups to be able to take firstly your strongest squad and have those back-ups in place who also can come in and do the job. It’s good that we’ve identified five or six guys and it will be priority based on who goes and back-ups will be in place for fast bowlers. Small niggles can happen now and then, so we’re pretty sorted in that regard. Not a worry at all,” captain Virat Kohli wants the other bowlers in the squad to step up and make their presence felt.
