IND vs NED: Bhuvneshwar Kumar becomes first Indian cricketer to achieve impressive feat

Bhuvneshwar Kumar created history on Thursday as he became the first Indian cricketer to bowl back-to-back maiden overs in a T20I innings. He was able to achieve the feat in the first two overs of his spell during the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 encounter against Netherlands in Sydney.

The others who have achieved the feat at the T20 World Cup are - Graeme Swann vs Afghanistan (2012), Nuwan Kulasekara vs Netherlands (2014) and Rangana Herath vs New Zealand (2014).

Bhuvneshwar looked in perfect control on Thursday as the Dutch batsmen struggled to score runs off his bowling and he even castled opener Vikramjit Singh in the third over of the match.

Thanks to his performance, Bhuvneshwar equalled compatriot Jasprit Bumrah’s tally of nine maiden overs overall – the highest in T20I cricket. With Bumrah missing the T20 World Cup due to a back stress fracture, Bhuvneshwar has the opportunity to claim the top spot for the time being.

When it comes to T20 cricket, it is West Indies spinner Sunil Narine who holds the record with 27 maiden overs. Bhuvneshwar is fourth in the list with 20 with Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan with 23 and former West Indies leg-spinner Samuel Badree (21) in the second and third spot.

Earlier, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav slammed half centuries to take India to a solid total of 179 for the loss of two wickets. The Indians batsmen dominated proceedings after losing KL Rahul early and it was once again a masterclass for the in-form Kohli.