Christchurch, Oct 23: Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh was presented a special jersey to mark his 100th T20I appearance for India, with captain Shreyas Iyer hailing the left-armer's hard work and dedication at a dressing-room ceremony after the team's four-wicket win over New Zealand in the series opener.
Arshdeep reached the milestone in the match held at the Hagley Oval, which India won by chasing 226 with two balls to spare. The celebrations were captured in a video posted by the BCCI on its social media accounts on Friday, with head coach Gautam Gambhir opening proceedings. "The first thing is, Arshdeep is playing his 100th T20I," he said.
Iyer then handed over the commemorative jersey to Arshdeep in the dressing room. "Special jersey for a special bowler who has completed 100 games in T20 Internationals – Arshdeep Singh. Another feather in your cap.
“We know that your hard work, dedication and all the brilliance that you've shown off the field is the result of this jersey. So I hope that you keep continuing with this sort of mindset and your 100th game has finished in a victory. So many more to come," he said.
Arshdeep thanked his teammates and support staff for standing by him through the good days and the bad. "Thank you very much. Thank you so much everyone for supporting. Thank you for supporting and backing me always. No matter if it's a tough day or a good day or a bad day, you have always supported me all.
"Keep supporting me and keep making sure the environment is nice in this room. We'll make sure we keep winning and even back home, keep supporting us. Thank you," he added.
Arshdeep finished with figures of 1-45 in a run-fest, but he had a notable contribution in the field. Showing a footballer's touch, he kicked the ball to run out New Zealand's Bevon Jacobs, who had raced to 31 off 16 balls and was looking dangerous.
India's record chase was built on a 93-run opening stand inside the powerplay between Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma, with the former top-scoring with a 33-ball 67. Iyer chipped in with 42 off 28 balls before Naman Dhir finished the chase with an unbeaten 42 off 15 deliveries.
The second T20I will also be played at Hagley Oval on Saturday, before the teams travel to Wellington, Auckland and Hamilton for the remaining three matches of the five-game series on October 27, October 30 and November 1 respectively.
--IANS