India’s stylish wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson is just one century away from rewriting the history books of T20I cricket. Samson, 29, has already scored two back-to-back hundreds in T20Is and needs one more to become the first player ever to hit three consecutive hundreds in the shortest format of the game.
Currently, there are only three players other than Sanju who have scored consecutive hundreds in T20I cricket – England’s Phil Salt, France’s Gustav Mckeon and South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw. Samson had scored a 47-ball 111 in the third T20I against Bangladesh last month and backed it up with a 107-run knock in the first match of the ongoing series against Proteas at Kingsmead in Durban.
On the other hand, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya also have the opportunity to scale the ladder of the all-time leading wicket-takers for India in T20Is and get closer to the zenith. Currently, Arshdeep is the fourth-leading wicket-taker in the format for India with 88 scalps whereas Hardik is fifth with 87 wickets to his credit.
Notably, Jasprit Bumrah is third on the chart with 89 wickets and the out-of-favour pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is second with 90 wickets. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who was a part of India’s squad at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the USA and the Caribbean is at the top with 96 wickets in 80 matches.
Most wickets for India in T20Is
| S. No | Player | Matches | Wickets |
| 1. | Yuzvendra Chahal | 80 | 96 |
| 2. | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 87 | 90 |
| 3. | Jasprit Bumrah | 70 | 89 |
| 4. | Arshdeep Singh | 57 | 88 |
| 5. | Hardik Pandya | 106 | 87 |
South Africa T20I squad:
Aiden Markram (c), Ottneil Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Patrick Kruger, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Mihlali Mpongwana, Nqaba Peter, Ryan Rickelton, Andile Simelane, Lutho Sipamla (3rd and 4th T20Is), and Tristan Stubbs.
India T20I squad for South Africa series:
Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal.
