India all-rounder Hardik Pandya is chasing a huge T20I record in the ongoing series against England. His ability to bowl medium pace and also bat in the top six makes him a massive asset for India in any format. Pandya lends balance to the team and with this record, he will just prove his mettle once again in world cricket, especially in white-ball formats.
Hardik is currently in third place in the list of most wickets for India in T20Is with 91 scalps to his name in 98 innings at an average of 26.5 with the best figures of 4/16 in his career. He just needs nine wickets to reach the magical mark of 100 wickets for India in the format, the milestone which no Indian bowler has touched. Left-arm fast bowler Arshdeep Singh is closest to that landmark with 97 wickets so far in this career.
However, Hardik Pandya is chasing a historic double of scoring more than 1000 runs and picking 100 wickets in T20Is in the remaining four T20Is against England. The 31-year-old has so far scored 1703 runs in 110 T20Is at an average of 27.91 and a strike rate of 141.68 with four half-centuries to his name.
To have such numbers with bat and ball is rare in the shortest format and if Hardik manages to pick nine more wickets, he will become only the second player in the history of T20Is to achieve the historic double of scoring more than 1000 runs and picking 100 or more wickets. Only Shakib Al Hasan has managed to do so with 2551 runs and 149 wickets in 129 T20Is for Bangladesh.
Several players have got close to achieving this double but haven't been able to cross it. Shahid Afridi finished his T20I career at 1419 runs and 98 wickets while Mohammad Nabi is at 97 wickets with 2237 runs and could be the next player to breach the landmark whenever he plays T20Is.
