The India National Cricket Team is in New Zealand for a five-match T20I series. During the first T20I match at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who made a comeback to the T20I squad, achieved a unique record in this match. He has bowled the most dot balls in the powerplay in the history of the game.

This is a big series for Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was named in this series but was added to the final match of the West Indies series, but did not get to bowl as the match was washed out with the series ending in a 2-2 draw. From India’s point of view, they would want to win this series and mark their first away win under Shreyas Iyer captaincy.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar makes history on comeback

During the first over of Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s comeback match, he achieved the milestone. He has now bowled 680 dot balls in the full member teams competition. This is a historic milestone for the veteran pacer, as the active bowler closest to him is Zimbabwe’s Richard Ngarava. He bowled the first over superbly, giving out just four runs.

In his second over, he started off with a no-ball, bowled the free-hit ball well, but it edged past to four and then was taken on for 17 runs in his second over. He has the experience of making a comeback and would look to bowl his remaining two overs well during the business end of the innings.

Most Dot balls in T20I Powerplay
(full member teams)

680 - Bhuvneshwar Kumar*
679 - Tim Southee
674 - Richard Ngarava
625 - Shaheen Afridi
614 - B Muzarabani
576 - Arshdeep Singh
569 - Jasprit Bumrah

Most Dot balls in T20I Powerplay (full member teams) 680 - 𝗕𝗵𝘂𝘃𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗵𝘄𝗮𝗿 𝗞𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗿* 679 - Tim Southee 674 - Richard Ngarava 625 - Shaheen Afridi 614 - B Muzarabani 576 - Arshdeep Singh 569 - Jasprit Bumrah Returns to the T20I squad after 4 years and makes a record in his very first over! 🔥👏 #INDvsNZ

— 𝑺𝒉𝒆𝒃𝒂𝒔 (@Shebas_10dulkar) October 22, 2026

Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowls his first no-ball

Apart from achieving a unique milestone, Bhuvi created an unwanted record after he bowled the no-ball in his second over. He bowled his first no-ball after 89 matches and after bowling 299.3 overs, and is right behind England's Adil Rashid. This is a record that Bhuvi would not have wanted to etch beside his name.

Bhuvi has been waiting for his chances and would want to capitalize on them fully, as he has been brilliant in the last two seasons of the IPL and led RCB to back-to-back titles.

New Zealand off to a flying start

Coming to the match, Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to field first. They made two changes from their last T20I match against West Indies; Nitish Kumar Reddy and Mayank Yadav came into the side for Shivam Dube and Prince Yadav.

New Zealand openers Tim Seifert and Finn Allen provided a blistering start, with Seifert scoring 24 off 17 deliveries, smashing three fours and one six. Allen kept his demolition charge going as he scored 45 off 24 deliveries with five fours and two sixes.

They are going at just 10 an over and looking for 200-220, as Glenn Phillips and Bevon Jacobs are at the crease, with the former looking in good touch with 30* off 18 balls.