Rare Record For Bhuvneshwar Kumar!! Becomes First Indian Pacer To Celebrate This Feat During SMAT 2024

The veteran pacer of the Indian team, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, has celebrated a unique record as the fast bowler for his national country in the shortest format of the game during the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024, playing for the Uttar Pradesh side against Delhi at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

The Bhuvneshwar Kumar-led side, winning the toss, decided to bat first in the afternoon clash, expecting the dew to fall later in the evening, making the chase easy for the side in the second innings. But the opening batter of the Delhi side nailed a 102-run knock in just 43 balls with the help of five boundaries and ten sixes at a strike rate of over 237.21.

Himmat Singh, coming into the middle order of the team, cracked an unbeaten knock of 77 runs in 34 deliveries, shouldering on four boundaries and six over boundaries at the strike rate of 226.47 to carry them to 233/3 in their allotted 20 overs.

Also Read: Tilak Verma Breaks Unique Record For India With This Feat During SMAT 2024

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who drew the first blood with the wicket of opening batter Yash Dhull, finished with 1/29 in his four overs. But that wasn’t a smooth day for the UP side, who could take their tally to 186/8 in their 20 overs after being posted at 34/3 inside the powerplay.

Nitish Rana, who crunched 61 runs in 42 deliveries with the help of seven boundaries and a couple of sixes at the strike rate of 145.24, and Rinku Singh, who nailed 70 runs in 38 balls, thanks to eight boundaries and four sixes at the strike rate of over 180, put up a 98-run stand for the fourth wicket in less than ten overs.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar becomes first Indian pacer to pick 300 wickets in T20s

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, despite his team’s defeat, will remember the day as he became the first Indian pacer to pick up 300 T20 wickets, as he eclipsed the stand-in Test captain of the Blue Brigade in Tests, Jasprit Bumrah, who was in the race to become the first pacer from the country to reach the milestone.

The only other bowlers to be listed are spinners, in the form of Yuzvendra Chahal, Piyush Chawla, and Ravichandran Ashwin. The 34-year-old seamer has featured in 87 T20Is for the Indian team, where he has collected 90 wickets at an average of 23.10 and an economy rate of under seven with three four-wicket and a couple of five-wicket hauls.

When it comes to his record in T20s, the right-arm pacer has recorded 300 scalps in 286 innings at an average of under 26 and an economy rate of 7.30. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has also been part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with huge success, claiming 181 wickets in 176 innings at an average of 27.23 and an economy rate of 7.56.

His franchise from the previous edition of the event, Sunrisers Hyderabad, has decided not to retain him for the upcoming season, and it will be interesting to see if he gets a new franchise in the upcoming mega auction.

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The last T20I game for Bhuvneshwar Kumar came in 2022 at Napier against New Zealand, but a great IPL could throw the last chance of making a return to the national side.

Most wickets for India in T20s