During the 4th T20I between India and England at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, Saqib Mahmood didn’t waste any time in getting among the wickets. He bowled in the game’s second over after replacing Mark Wood, and he immediately made an impression.
All the wicketkeeper-batter could do was pull Saqib Mahmood to the fielder at deep square leg after being banged in short and near Sanju Samson’s body.
It’s interesting to note that this was the fourth consecutive time the opener was removed in this fashion. On the very next delivery, Tilak Varma, the star of the second Twenty20 International, was removed. Jofra Archer made a spectacular catch after the southpaw surged at the 27-year-old pacer and sent a heavy outside edge flying to deep-third. Suryakumar Yadav was sent back to the shed for a three-ball duck after the last delivery of the over.
It makes sense that the boisterous sea of MCA Stadium fans was pushed into a spooky calm. This was possibly the first time in a long time that India’s batting order collapsed in the 20-over format. In T20Is, this was the first time a bowler had ever claimed a triple-wicket maiden against India.
Rashid disrupts the potential agreement between Rinku and Abhishek.
The left-handed combination of Rinku Singh and Abhishek Sharma seized control of England following the defeat. At the conclusion of the first powerplay, the two helped India to a respectable 47/3.
On the second ball of his spell, though, Adil Rashid took Abhishek’s crucial wicket. Rashid’s deft change of pace, after getting crunched through extra cover, enticed Abhishek to pull the ball directly into Jacob Bethell’s hands at deep midwicket. India is 72/4 at the end of 10 overs as of this writing.
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