Christchurch, Oct. 21 -- Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh stands just five wickets away from becoming the first Indian to reach 150 T20I wickets ahead of the five-match series against New Zealand.

The series against Kiwis will start from Thursday onwards with the first T20I at Christchurch. Arshdeep, who sustained a hit on his shoulder during the fourth T20I against West Indies and featured in the playing XI for the final T20I at Bengaluru, which was rained out, looks on track to be a crucial part of the Indian set-up for all five T20Is.

Since his T20I debut in 2022, Arshdeep has experienced a meteoric rise in T20Is, becoming the leading Indian T20I wicket-taker at the start of year 2025. In 99 T20Is, he has taken 145 wickets at an average...