India left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh is five wickets away from becoming the first Indian bowler to reach the 150-wicket milestone in T20I cricket. The Punjab Kings (PBKS) speedster will have a chance to achieve the feat during the upcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand, starting on Thursday.

The left-arm seamer picked up a shoulder injury during the fourth T20I against the West Indies, but he returned to the playing XI for the fifth and final match in Bengaluru, which was abandoned due to rain. With the left-arm pacer in contention for the entire New Zealand series, India will look to him to continue his prolific form in the shortest format and make history.

Arshdeep Singh closing in on 150 T20I wickets

Since his T20I debut in 2022, Arshdeep has been one of India's most prolific pacemen. He became the nation's leading T20I wicket-taker at the start of 2025, and has since been a mainstay of the attack.

From 99 T20I appearances, the left-arm seamer has reaped 145 wickets at an average of 20.30. With two four-wicket hauls and a five-wicket effort, he has the best economy (5/51) of any bowler. If he picks up five more wickets, he will be the joint-ninth bowler in history to reach 150 T20I wickets, and the first Indian to do so. Rashid Khan of Afghanistan has the most T20I wickets of any bowler, with 197 in 118 matches.

Arshdeep has had a prolific record against New Zealand as well, averaging 20.00 with 17 wickets in 10 matches. He has also taken a four-wicket haul and a five-wicket haul, with best figures of 5/51. Against New Zealand in New Zealand, he has picked up four wickets in two matches, with best figures of 4/37 at Napier in 2022.

Apart from T20I, Arshdeep is also eyeing another milestone. He has taken 288 wickets in 223 T20 matches, and has only 12 more to go before he joins the 300 wickets club in the shortest format.

In T20I matches this year, Arshdeep has picked up 35 wickets in 27 matches at an average of 24.68 and an economy rate of 9.20. He has also taken a five-wicket haul, with best figures of 5/51, which highlights his role as a crucial bowler for India ahead of the New Zealand challenge.

India's T20I squad for the New Zealand series

Shreyas Iyer [C]Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson [WK]Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan [WK]Tilak Verma [VC]Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav.