India bowler Arshdeep Singh notched up the unwanted record of becoming the first bowler to bowl 7 wides in a T20I over. The unwanted stat was brought up in India’s 2nd T20I match against South Africa in Mullanpur on Thursday.
The Punjab speedster did not have an ideal homecoming when bowling the 11th over when he was smacked for a six by Quinton de Kock off the very first ball. With the pressure mounting, Arshdeep bowled 7 wides in the over, ultimately conceding 18 runs from the over.
This was also the joint longest over bowled by a full nation member bowler with Arshdeep joining Afghanistan’s Naveen-ul-Haq, both of whom bowled 13 deliveries. Naveen had also bowled 6 wides in the over he bowled back in 2024 vs Zimbabwe. South Africa’s Sisanda Magala comes next for a 12-ball over against Pakistan in 2021
Arshdeep’s over on Thursday was a perfect representation of India’s ordinary bowling efforts with Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram running riot over them. Only Varun Chakravarthy was the lone bright spot, taking 2 wickets.
Earlier, India skipper Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and elected to bowl against South Africa in the second T20I. India, who lead the five-match series 1-0, are fielding an unchanged playing XI.
South Africa, on the other hand, have made three changes with Reeza Hendricks, George Linde and Ottneil Baartman replacing Tristan Stubbs, Keshav Maharaj and Anrich Nortje.
Meanwhile, World Cup winners Yuvraj Singh and Harmanpreet Kaur were on Thursday immortalized at the New Chandigarh Stadium with stands named in their honour.
Yuvraj, player of the tournament for the 2011 ODI World Cup, and Harmanpreet, who recently captained India to their first ever Women’s World Cup trophy, were surrounded friends, family and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on the occasion.
Yuvraj was also seen giving a pep talk to the Indian team in a huddle before the second T20 International against South Africa.
