Arshdeep Singh becomes 1st Indian to claim 100 T20I wickets, reaches milestone against Oman

Arshdeep Singh takes 100 wickets for India in T20Is. (BCCI Photo)

In a landmark moment for Indian cricket, pacer Arshdeep Singh etched his name in history by becoming the first Indian bowler to take 100 wickets in T20 Internationals. He reached the triple-digit mark when he dismissed Vinayak Shukla of Oman in India's Asia Cup clash on Friday (September 19).

For India, alongside Arshdeep Singh, the trio of Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, and Harshit Rana each claimed a wicket during Friday’s clash in Abu Dhabi. Pandya’s dismissal of Hammad Mirza—caught by Rinku Singh—took his career tally in T20 internationals to 96 wickets. This milestone puts him level with Yuzvendra Chahal, making him the joint second-highest wicket-taker for India in the 20-over format.

Chahal has achieved his 96 wickets in 80 T20Is, while the match against Oman marked Pandya’s 117th appearance for India in this format.

The two replacements in the playing eleven -- Harshit Rana (1/25 in 3 overs) and Arshdeep Singh (1/37) -- looked woefully short of game time even though both had played North Zone's only Duleep Trophy game this season.

Kuldeep Yadav (1/23 in 3 overs) as usual was cut above the rest. Arshdeep, who is unlikely to play against Pakistan, got a chance to complete 100 wickets, making him the first Indian to reach that milestone.

For Oman, skipper Jatinder Singh (32 of 33 balls), fellow opener Aamir Kaleem (64 off 46 balls) and Hammad Mirza (51 off 34 balls) did put up a gutsy fight but it was not enough to script a famous win.

But looking at the bigger picture, it gave Surya an idea of what to expect from his resources come business end of the tournament.

The biggest gainer was Samson, who helped himself to some runs although there is no guarantee that he would bat No.3 when Pakistan comes calling.

With vice-captain Gill getting out cheaply, the one drop slot warranted a right hander and accordingly Samson got a chance to bat in the top 3.

It wasn't the smoothest of his innings on a slightly slowish track but three fours and three sixes off 45 balls would certainly give him confidence ahead of the business week.

Of all his big hits, the first maximum off left-arm seamer Shah Faisal, a pick-up shot over widish long-on stood out but lack of match time showed as he did struggle to get going.

It was pretty obvious that India would like to bat first and make full use of the 20 overs before the start of the Super 4s giving sufficient time to their under-utilized middle-order ahead of Pakistan game on Sunday.

The batting order was rightly shuffled giving Samson his favourite slot, promoting all-rounders Axar and Pandya ahead of specialist left-hander Tilak or batting all-rounder Shivam Dube (5). (With PTI inputs)