New Delhi: Playing just his second international game in Indian colours, opener Abhishek Sharma claimed all the spotlight with his blitz in Harare against Zimbabwe in the 2nd T20I of the five-match series. India were left shocked by the hosts in the first T20I as their bowlers bundled the Indian batters out to register a win in the series opener and get a 1-0 lead. India looked to heal the wound sustained and did pretty well with a 100-run thrashing to exact revenge.
On the back of Abhishek (100 off 47; 7 fours, 8 sixes), who hit his maiden international ton, India posted 234/2 in 20 overs and the Indian bowlers did a decent job to restrict Zimbabwe to 134, skittling them out in 18.4 overs. The margin of win was 100 runs which tells that Zimbabwe lost to Abhishek all alone. His modern-day approach of hitting the lofted shots is incredible as he shows what risk-taking looks like and how one can convert it into their favour.
Nonetheless, the southpaw took no time to enter India’s record books as he quickly made it into the list of fastest batters to score T20I hundreds for India. As Abhishek took just 46 balls to complete the hundred, he has now equalled KL Rahul’s record of 46-ball 100 which he hit in Lauderhill back in 2016 against West Indies.
Fastest hundred for India in T20Is (by balls faced)
35 – Rohit Sharma vs SL, Indore, 2017
45 – Suryakumar Yadav vs SL, Rajkot, 2023
46 – KL Rahul vs WI, Lauderhill, 2016
46 – Abhishek Sharma vs ZIM, Harare, 2024
48 – Suryakumar Yadav vs ENG, Nottingham, 2022
It all happened with Shubman’s bat!
At the post-match press conference, Abhishek revealed that the bat which he used for the 2nd T20I was that of Shubman Gill, who is the skipper of this second-string Indian team. Both Abhishek and Shubman share a close bond and come from the same Indian state (Punjab). The explosive batter remembered their camaraderie since childhood.
“The journey has been very beautiful. When we started playing, we were around 10-11 years and we have been playing since U12 together. The ultimate goal was to represent the country. I have said this before that the first call I got (about selection) was from Shubman, he was very happy.
“I played with his (Shubman’s) bat today and it went really well, special thanks to him for the bat. This happens from the U12 days, whenever I think it’s a pressure game or it’s a match I should perform, I take his bat. Even in the IPL, I ask for his bat. Even today it went really well,” Abhishek said.
Abhishek Sharma went bonkers in the 2nd T20I between India and Zimbabwe as he hit his maiden international century and helped India win the game by 100 runs to level the five-match series 1-1. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
