The veteran Indian pacer, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been doing a pretty good job in the ongoing T20I series against South Africa and seemed to be the only Indian bowler causing any sort of trouble to the Proteas batters. He had his struggles with injuries but he has enjoyed a consistent run since the start of 2021. Bhuvneshwar recorded figures of 4/13 in the second T20I and helped India put up a challenge as they defended a low target of 149.
It took his tally of wickets against South Africa to 13 wickets and he now needs three more to become the highest wicket taker against the Proteas in the shortest format of the game. The record is currently held jointly by former West Indies all-rounder, Dwayne Bravo, who retired from international cricket in 2021, and England pacer Chris Jordan.
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Bhuvneshwar has scalped 63 wickets in his T20I career, 33 of which have come in the powerplay. This makes him the joint highest wicket taker with former West Indies spinner Samuel Badree in the powerplay overs in T20Is. India will be looking to avoid a first T20I series defeat in over three years as they face South Africa in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.
While the men in blue failed to defend a target of 212 in the first match, they then lost the second match after being restricted to 148/6. The hosts had lost the toss on both occasions and batted first.
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India is missing a number of their key players like Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli, and regular skipper, Rohit Sharma, all of whom have been rested after a grueling season of the IPL. The players will return to the team next month when India will be locking horns with England in the postponed fifth Test of the series that was originally scheduled to be played in September last year.