IND vs SA: Bhuvneshwar Kumar on the verge of making an Incredible T20I record

By Karan Rawat Jun 14, 2022, 16:28 IST

India will take on the Temba Bavuma-led team on Tuesday at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, Bhuvneshwar. Having lost both opening matches comprehensively, the home team must bounce back.

Because a loss in the third game will mean a series loss for India and it will also be the first T20 bilateral series win for the Proteas against the Men in Blue.

India failed to defend the score both times in the two matches. However, the second game was much closer, and South Africa had a rusty start to their chase. The Indian bowling attack looked quite ordinary in both games apart from one man.

The veteran Indian pacer, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, returned with an excellent figure of 4/13 in his four overs in the second T20I, while all other bowlers leaked runs. Bhuvi looked in great rhythm and bowled an amazing line. It was great to see that he was swinging the ball both ways, like he used to do in his early days.

Certainly, he caused a problem for the South African batsmen. He took three wickets in the first six overs during the field restrictions of the power-play. And those three wickets helped him to equal the record of West Indian spinner Samuel Badtee and the Kiwi pacer Tim Southee for the most wickets in the powerplay.

Bhuvi has now taken a total of 33 wickets in the power-play overs in 59 matches, that too at an incredible economy rate of 5.66. Now, with the third T20I to be played on Tuesday, he has a really good chance to pick up a wicket and become the bowler with the most power-play wickets.

But it is not just about the power-play; the entire Indian bowling unit needs to step up to bounce back against the strong South African batting department. Notably, there are a few bowling changes expected in the team because some exciting bowlers are waiting for the match. We might see either Umran Malik or Arshdeep Singh make their debut.

Axar Patel has been expensive and has only one wicket. On the other hand, Avesh Khan has been wicketless in two matches.