Hardik Pandya goes past Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah in legendary list after taking 2 wickets vs England

Hardik Pandya played his first game for Team India this year on Wednesday (January 22) when the Men in Blue locked horns against England in the first T20I at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

The India allrounder played a key role with the ball as India thrashed England by seven wickets to take the lead in the series. Asked to bat first, England were bowled out for a modest total of 132 runs. They were on 74/4 at the end of the 10th over and were looking destined to post a challenging total above 150.

However, India's bowlers did not let England finish their innings strongly and restricted them to a modest total. Captain Jos Buttler waged a lone battle for England, scoring 68 runs off 44 balls with the help of eight fours and a couple of sixes.

Apart from Buttler, no other England player could even reach the 20-run mark. For India, Varun Chakravarthy was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3 wickets for 23 runs off his 4 overs. On the other hand, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, and Axar Patel picked up two wickets each.

Also Read: Watch: 4, 4, 6, 4, 4! Sanju Samson destroys Gus Atkinson in 1st T20I at Eden Gardens

With the bat, India chased down the total with utmost ease. The hosts crossed the finishing line in the 14th over by losing just 3 wickets. Opener Abhishek Sharma starred with the bat, smashing 79 runs off just 34 balls with the help of 5 fours and 8 sixes. Sanju Samson got the start as well but he did not last long and departed for 26 runs.

Hardik Pandya moves ahead of Jasprit Bumrah:

The two wickets in the first T20I against England have helped Hardik Pandya move above Jasprit Bumrah as well as Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the list of Indian bowlers with the most wickets in the shortest format of the game.

Before the start of the game, Hardik Pandya was at the fifth spot in the list with 89 wickets. He was level with Bumrah on wickets and one wicket shy of Bhuvneshwar's tally. The two wickets took his tally to 91 in T20Is, thus moving him ahead of Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah.

He is now third in the overall list behind Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep. Meanwhile, Arshdeep broke Chahal's record in the same game to become India's all-time leading wicket-taker in T20Is. The left-arm pacer now has 97 wickets, one more than Chahal.