Arshdeep Singh Equals World Record With 39 T20I Wickets in a Calendar Year

Wellington: Arshdeep Singh wrote his name into the T20I record books in Wellington on Tuesday, equalling the record for the most wickets by a bowler from a Full Member nation in a single calendar year. The left-arm pacer’s dismissal of New Zealand opener Tim Seifert, caught by Axar Patel at backward point for 2, took his tally for 2026 to 39 wickets in 30 T20Is — level with Ireland pacer Joshua Little, who took 39 wickets in 2022. Arshdeep finished the match with 1 for 33 from four overs as New Zealand posted 198 for 3, before India chased the target down in just 13.2 overs to seal the five-match series 3-0. The record had been building all year, and it fell in stages on this tour. Arshdeep took 1 for 45 in the Christchurch opener, removing Daryl Mitchell, then claimed 2 for 33 in the second match — Seifert again, plus Glenn Phillips for 70 — to reach 38 wickets and pass Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s Indian record of 37 wickets in a calendar year, set in 2022. The Wellington wicket then carried him level with Little at the top of the Full Member list, ahead of Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga, who took 38 wickets in 2024. It is the latest milestone in a remarkable T20I career. Since his debut in 2022, Arshdeep has taken 149 wickets in 102 T20Is at an average of 20.50, making him India’s leading wicket-taker in the format. One more wicket — with two matches still to play in this series — will make him the first Indian bowler to reach 150 T20I wickets, a landmark no Indian has touched. For context, the outright calendar-year record across all nations belongs to Bahrain’s Ali Dawood, who took 63 wickets in 2025 in Associate cricket — which is why Arshdeep’s mark is framed among Full Member nations, where the schedules and opposition are of a different order. Within that elite company, though, Arshdeep now stands alone at the summit alongside Little. The next chance to break the record outright comes quickly: the fourth T20I against New Zealand is at Eden Park, Auckland, on Friday, in front of an expected sell-out crowd of around 40,000. If Arshdeep strikes there, he will own a world record outright — and complete a second piece of history in the same week. Read the Wellington match report: https://t20star.com/abhishek-sharmas-35-ball-hundred-powers-india-to-series-win-in-wellington-3rd-t20i/ Brief scores, 3rd T20I: New Zealand 198/3 in 20 overs vs India 199/4 in 13.2 overs. India won by 6 wickets; series 3-0 to India. Arshdeep Singh 1/33; 39 T20I wickets in 2026, equalling Joshua Little (39, 2022).