Abhishek Sharma storms with 148 off 52 balls, hits 16 sixes and 8 fours, equals Rohit and Yuvraj
New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Punjab played their third match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26 against Bengal on Sunday, November 30. Punjab opener Abhishek Sharma played a blistering knock in this Elite Group C match at the Gymkhana Ground in Hyderabad. He reached his century in just 32 balls, hitting 11 sixes and 7 fours. Abhishek scored 148 runs in 52 balls, including 16 sixes and 8 fours.
This is Abhishek Sharma's eighth century in T20 cricket, having played 157 innings for it. He now equals Rohit Sharma on the list of Indian batsmen with the most centuries in T20 cricket. Among Indian players, only Virat Kohli (9) has more T20 centuries than him.
16 sixes, 8 fours and 148 runs in 52 balls… Abhishek Sharma wreaked havoc; equaled Rohit and Yuvraj: In this match, Abhishek completed his half-century in just 12 balls, which is jointly the third fastest half-century in men's T20 cricket. Also, jointly the second fastest half-century scored by an Indian player. Abhishek achieved this feat by equaling Yuvraj Singh, who had scored a fifty in 12 balls against England in the 2007 T20 World Cup.
The fastest half-century in men's T20 cricket is held by Nepal's Dipendra Singh Airee, who scored a fifty off just nine balls against Mongolia during the Asian Games in September 2023. India's Ashutosh Sharma is second, scoring a half-century off 11 balls for Railways against Arunachal Pradesh in the 2023–24 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Abhishek Sharma now holds the second-highest individual score by an Indian in T20 cricket. He surpassed Shreyas Iyer, who scored 147 for Mumbai against Sikkim in 2019. The list is topped by Tilak Varma, who scored 151 against Meghalaya in November 2024.
Abhishek's aggressive innings helped Punjab reach 310 for 5 in their 20 overs. This is the fifth time in T20 cricket that a team has posted a score of over 300. The highest team score in T20 cricket is held by Baroda, who scored 349 against Sikkim in December 2024.