Mayank Yadav Becomes Third Indian to Take a Wicket on the First Ball of a T20I

Mayank Yadav made an instant impact in India's series opener against Zimbabwe in Harare. Handed the new ball, he struck with the very first delivery of the match, having Brian Bennett caught behind by Ishan Kishan.

The wicket makes him only the third Indian bowler to take a wicket on the first ball of a men's T20I. He joins Ajit Agarkar and Arshdeep Singh on that short list.

Mayank went on to finish with figures of 2 for 18 from his 4 overs, consistently troubling the Zimbabwe top order with pace touching 149 kmph. His second wicket, Dion Myers, came in similar fashion, caught in the deep off a mistimed pull.

The 24-year-old had already made his India T20I debut back in October 2024 against Bangladesh, where he was one over away from becoming just the third Indian to bowl a maiden in his first T20I over. Injuries kept him out of India's white-ball plans through much of the following year, so this outing marked his first international appearance since then. Today's spell was a timely reminder of the pace and impact that first got him into India's setup.

Zimbabwe never recovered from the early blow, eventually posting 125 for 7, a target India chased down inside 14 overs to win by 7 wickets.