Shakib Al Hasan overtakes Lasith Malinga to become the leading T20I wicket-taker
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan overtook Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga on Sunday to become the highest wicket-taker in Men’s T20 internationals.
Shakib has 108 T20I wickets to his name now, which is one more than Malinga’s tally of 107 wickets.
The 34-year-old was one short of Malinga’s 107 wickets when their T20 World Cup 2021 match against Scotland started on Sunday.
First, he went level with Malinga’s tally with the wicket of Richie Berrington in the second delivery of the 11th over of the innings. Then he achieved the feat of being the highest wicket-taker in the format with the wicket of Michael Leask on the fourth delivery of the same over.
He bowled a terrific spell as he bowled his full quota of four overs, while picking up two wickets and having conceded only 17 runs at an economy rate of 4.25.
Shakib has a terrific bowling record in T20Is. His 108 wickets have come at a mean economy rate of under 7.00 and strike-rate of 18.2.
He started his T20I career for Bangladesh in 2006 and is still going strong. In fact, he has featured in all editions of the T20 World Cup to date and if things go right, he could end up becoming the all-time highest wicket-taker in this mega event as well.
Currently, Shakib has 32 wickets to his name in the T20 World Cup and needs eight more wickets to go past Shahid Afridi, who holds the record for most wickets taken at T20 World Cup with 39 wickets to his name.