Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah. (Source – Getty Images)
25-year-old Arshdeep Singh has added another feather to his cap when it comes to his international career after Ryan Rickelton picked the lone man on the on-side at deep backward square-leg off the left-armer’s bowling. It meant Arshdeep’s tally of T20I wickets climbed to 89. It was a smart piece of bowling from Arshdeep, who compelled Rickelton to take on the longest pocket of the ground.
With the left-handed batter’s wicket, Arshdeep climbed to joint-third position to be in the company of pace-bowling spearhead, Jasprit Bumrah. Arshdeep has played 12 matches fewer than Bumrah when he went on level terms with him but possesses an economy rate greater than the right-arm quick (8.32 vs 6.27).
Below is the list of the top 5 wicket-takers for India in T20Is (as of November 11, 2024):
| Rank | Player | Matches | Innings | Wickets | Economy | Average |
| 1 | Yuzvendra Chahal | 80 | 79 | 96 | 8.19 | 25.09 |
| 2 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 87 | 86 | 90 | 6.96 | 23.10 |
| 3 | Jasprit Bumrah | 70 | 69 | 89 | 6.27 | 17.74 |
| 3 | Arshdeep Singh | 58 | 58 | 89 | 8.32 | 18.68 |
| 4 | Hardik Pandya | 107 | 95 | 87 | 8.17 | 26.57 |
| 5 | Ravichandran Ashwin | 65 | 65 | 72 | 6.90 | 23.22 |
The ongoing series against South Africa has not been as fruitful as Arshdeep would have wanted so far. The first T20I saw him concede 25 in the three overs he bowled and the recently-concluded second game was even worse for him when it comes to economy rate. However, in no way does that make him any less of a bowling threat in the shortest format.
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Bumrah has not been exposed to T20Is in general other than major ICC events due to him being preserved by the Board of Control for Cricket in India for Tests and 50-over games. It can be very well forecast that Arshdeep will not only eclipse Bumrah but take a healthy lead over him in the next calendar year.