The incident happened in the second over of India's innings.
The Indian team were dealt a massive early blow, losing three key wickets in one over during the ongoing IND vs ENG 4th T20I at Pune.
England pacer Saqib Mahmood, bowling the second over of the match, managed to dismiss star India batters Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav cheaply, leaving the hosts reeling at 12 for 3.
Saqib started the over with the dismissal of Sanju Samson (1) on the very first ball and followed it up by removing Tilak Varma (0) on the very next ball.
Samson fell prey to the short ball again, pulling it into the hands of deep square leg.
The in-form Tilak Varma was the next victim of Mahmood. The talented left-hander departed after resorting to an aggressive approach, which ended up backfiring as Saqib’s delivery found the outside edge, sending the ball towards the third man.
India skipper Suryakumar Yadav couldn’t change his luck either and ended up being Mahmood’s third prey, throwing away his wicket for a 4-ball duck.
Check the video of the dismissal below.
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Notably, this was the first time any bowler had claimed a triple-wicket maiden against India in the shortest format. Saqib’s electrifying first over left India struggling in the powerplay and shifted the momentum towards the visitors as they aim to level the five-match series.
Mahmood was included in the playing XI as a replacement for Mark Wood. Although Wood had performed well in the previous three matches, he was rested, likely for workload management. However, Saqib ensured that England did not miss the express pacer’s presence.
At the time of writing this report, the Indian scoreboard read 47 for 3 in six overs with Rinku Singh and Abhishek Sharma currently at the crease.
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