Anshul Kamboj continued to impress with the ball in the ongoing ODI series against New Zealand as he put on another fine display as India took a 2-0 lead in the five-match series at the Hnry Stadium in Wellington on Saturday (November 7) in a rain-hit match by four runs by the D/L Method. India had also won the series opener by five wickets in Auckland on Wednesday (November 4). As Zealand were bowled out for just 134, Kamboj took a two-wicket haul with the wickets of Henry Nicholls and Blair Tickenir. He finished with figures of 2/25 in eight overs. Meanwhile, he also took three catches in his innings, which led to the dismissals of Tim Seifert (Auqib Nabi), Daryl Mitchell (Axar Patel), and Glen Phillips (Gurnoor Brar). Kamboj has become only the third Indian pacer in history to complete the rare double of taking two (or more) wickets and three (or more) catches in the same ODI match. The last instance of the same happened during the famous 2011 World Cup Quarter-final over Australia at Ahmedabad. Overall, he is only the 10th Indian player (3 pacers + seven spinners) to achieve the feat in the history of the sport Meanwhile, the rare feat has been done only twice by New Zealand players on home soil (Martin Crowe vs Australia in 1982 and Tim Southee vs India in Christchurch in 2022). Overall, across the history of ODI cricket, where more than 5000 matches have been played, the all-round double has been achieved just 69 times (29 times by pacers). In the series opener, Kamboj won the Player of the Match (POTM) award for a spell of 2-22 in 10 overs. This was the joint-most economical spell (full 10-over spell) by an Indian pacer since 2002 in ODI Cricket. He also bowled 46 dot balls, which is the most by an Indian pacer in one match. The record was previously held by Jasprit Bumrah (45 dot balls vs England at the Oval in 2022). Aayush Kataria is a Senior Copy Editor at Times Network with five years of experience, having started his career in the organisation. He is a key memb... View More