Arshdeep Singh plays 100th T20I, seventh Indian to reach the landmark

A five-match T20 International series between India and New Zealand has begun. The first T20 is being played in Christchurch. Shreyas Iyer won the toss and chose to bowl first.

As the playing XIs were announced, Indian fast bowler Arshdeep Singh reached a major milestone. He became the seventh player to play 100 T20s for India, joining a list that already includes big names such as Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav.

Rohit Sharma, who retired from T20s in 2024, is at the top of the list. He holds the record for the most T20 Internationals for India, with 159 matches in the blue jersey. Apart from him, no Indian player has played more than 150 matches so far.

Hardik Pandya is second, with 138 T20s for India. He has been out of the team for a long time because of injury. Virat Kohli is third with 125 matches. Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah are also on the list. In the current Indian playing XI, Axar Patel is the second player to have played 100 or more T20s. Leaving out Rohit, no one else has completed 150 matches for India.

Arshdeep, playing his 100th T20 International, has taken 145 wickets in the format so far. This includes one five-wicket haul and two four-wicket hauls. He is India's highest wicket-taker in T20s. He also has 111 wickets in the IPL. His T20 career has been impressive so far and he can set further important records.

India's playing XI for the first T20 is: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.