India's 3 highest wicket-takers vs Ireland in T20Is
India's bowling lineup for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Ireland is all about two names - Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna.
Bumrah, who'll also become India's 11th T20I captain in the series, is coming back after an 11-month-long layoff from a back injury. Krishna, meanwhile, suffered a lumber stress fracture ahead of IPL 2023. The buzz is about how the pair perform because of their importance to India's ODI plans ahead of the 2023 World Cup.
The other bowlers - Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, and Avesh Khan - look well out of the first-15 as of now and thus don't have much attention.
But all six of them have a great chance of securing at least one record: India's highest wicket-taker in T20Is against Ireland. The current number is just seven, jointly held by two bowlers who won't play this series.
Let's look at the three top names on the list and how they reached there.
#3 Zahir Khan - 4 wickets
India's greatest left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan played just one T20I against Ireland and made the most of it. During the 2009 World T20 (now called the T20 World Cup), he took four wickets in a group-stage match against the Irish.
India bowled first on the swinging wicket in Nottingham and Zaheer drew first blood by getting rid of Jeremy Bray on the last ball of his first over (the second of the innings). He took out Ireland captain William Porterfield and Andre Botha in his fourth over, both caught at first slip while driving at pacy wide deliveries.
Zaheer then came in the 16th over to get Andrew White caught at slips to end a brilliant spell of 4/19 in just three overs. These are still the best figures by an Indian against Ireland.
#2 Yuzvendra Chahal - 7
After a mediocre T20I series against West Indies, Yuzvendra Chahal is unlikely to get a place in India's T20I 11s for some time. He looked down on confidence and was a bit too predictable at times. At this stage, at 33, when getting dropped is fraught with bigger troubles, he'd have loved to be a part of the Ireland series.
He has played three matches against them, picking seven wickets at an average of 10 and an economy rate of 6.36, obviously his best numbers against any team.
Chahal played both matches of India's 2018 tour here and picked up three wickets in each game. This was his first series out of the sub-continent after his nightmarish tour of South Africa that year where he conceded an average of over 100.
He picked up another wicket in the only T20I he played in the 2022 series, making him India's joint-highest wicket-taker against Ireland.
#1 Kuldeep Yadav - 7
If Chahal's average was astonishing, Kuldeep Yadav has seven wickets against Ireland in one game fewer at a measly 5.28 runs apiece.
He only played in the 2018 series and attacked the stumps even more than Chahal, getting four wickets in the first for 4/21 (the second-best spell for India after Zaheer) and 3/16 in the second. They were seven different batters.
In complete contrast to Chahal, Kuldeep's career is on an upward trajectory. After making his comeback from injury last year, Kuldeep has only gotten better. He is a key part of the ODI team and with a good series against West Indies has also put his hand up in T20Is.