IND vs SA: Varun Chakravarthy completes 50 T20I wickets; Becomes second fastest Indian to do so

Varun Chakravarthy reached the mark of 50 T20I wickets in his 32nd game.

Indian Cricket Team spinner Varun Chakravarthy bagged an incredible milestone during the third T20I against South Africa Cricket Team, reaching the mark of 50 wickets in the shortest format. The right-arm spinner hunted two wickets in his four-over spell in the encounter, which is currently underway at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Sunday, December 14.

Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to bowl first in the clash, where India aimed for a comeback after losing the last game by 51 runs. Right from the start, the hosts dominated the visitors with their dominating bowling attack, with Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana picking three wickets in the powerplay overs.

Most of the Proteas batters went to the dugout for single digits, with captain Aiden Markram being the only one to cross the 20-run mark with his 61 runs. In the end, they could only add 117 runs on the scoreboard before getting all out.

Varun Chakravarthy becomes second fastest Indian bowler to reach 50 wickets in T20I cricket

Indian bowlers showed stunning teamwork in bowling with Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav and Chakravarthy getting two scalps each. Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube got one scalp each. In the lead-up to his 50 T20I wickets, Chakravarthy became the second-fastest Indian bowler to reach the mark after Kuldeep.

While Chakravarthy took 32 games to get to his 50th T20I scalp, Kuldeep achieved the feat in his 30th game. Moreover,the right-arm spinner has overtaken bowlers like Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, and Yuzvendra Chahal to reach the tally.

Fastest Indian bowlers to pick 50 wickets in T20I cricket

1. Kuldeep Yadav- 30 matches
2. Varun Chakravarthy- 32 matches*
3. Arshdeep Singh – 33 matches
4. Ravi Bishnoi- 33 matches
5. Yuzvendra Chahal – 34 matches

Chakravarthy got the better of Donovan Ferreira and Marco Jansen in the Dharamsala clash. He also gave a similar performance in the last two games, scalping two wickets each in the first two encounters. Since making his international debut in 2021, the 34-year-old spinner has picked 51 scalps in 32 T20Is at an average of 15.0 and an economy of 6.74.

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