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STUMP VISION SEPTEMBER 25, 2026 | The Indian Eye 50

The Power and Magic of Being

ABHISHEK SHARMA

Abhishek Sharma’s breathtaking 34-ball century against Afghanistan has taken

his extraordinary T20 batting to another level, rewriting records and underlining the emergence of

one of India’s most destructive young hitters.

OUR BUREAU
New Delhi
here are innings that win matches, innings
that break records and innings that leave
Tspectators struggling to describe what they
have just witnessed. Abhishek Sharma’s assault on
Afghanistan in the third and final T20I at the Arun
Jaitley Stadium belonged to all three categories.
The India opener smashed 108 from just 34
balls as India posted 221/7, producing a display of
power-hitting that transformed the first six overs
into a personal playground. His innings contained
nine fours and 11 sixes, but the numbers only partly
capture the violence and speed with which he dis-
mantled the Afghan attack.
Abhishek scored 76 from just 22 balls during
the first six overs — the highest individual score in
the powerplay in men’s T20Is. It was another indi-
cation of the extraordinary attacking approach that
has become the defining feature of his batting.
His 76 surpassed Portugal’s Kuldeep Gholiya,
who had scored 74 not out from 25 balls against Mal-
ta in Gibraltar in 2023. Australia’s Travis Head, with
73 not out from 22 balls against Scotland in Edin-
burgh in 2024, occupies the third position on the list.
But Abhishek was not finished with the records. India’s Abhishek Sharma receives the Player of the Match award after the end of the 3rd T20I against Afghanistan at Arun
His 37 sixes in the powerplay in 2026 have now
given him another calendar-year record. He sur- Jaitley Stadium, in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI Photo/Rahul Singh)
passed his own previous mark of 34 sixes in 2025.
Muhammad Waseem of the UAE is next with 29 against Sri Lanka in Indore in 2017, a mark that had Abhishek himself owns the Indian record, having
powerplay sixes in 2023. represented India’s fastest T20I hundred. Abhishek smashed 13 sixes against England in Mumbai in 2025.
The remarkable consistency of Abhishek’s has now reduced that benchmark by five balls. Rohit Sharma, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma and
power-hitting is perhaps more significant than the The speed of his fifty was equally remarkable. Ishan Kishan have each hit 10 sixes in a T20I innings.
individual numbers. His ability to attack from the He reached the milestone in 16 balls, adding an- Abhishek’s 108 was therefore more than a spec-
first ball has made the powerplay an increasingly other entry to an already extraordinary list of rapid tacular score. It was a statistical statement about the
important part of his game, and against Afghanistan half-centuries. changing boundaries of T20 batting.
he pushed that philosophy to an extreme. Yuvraj Singh remains the owner of India’s fast- At 24, he is developing a reputation for turn-
The 108 also contained another milestone — est T20I fifty, having reached the mark in 12 balls ing the opening overs into an assault rather than a
his third T20I century. Abhishek reached his hun- against England in Durban in 2007. Abhishek had period of assessment. His latest innings showed the
dred in only 30 balls, becoming the fastest batter already struck a 14-ball fifty against New Zealand in combination of timing, strength and fearlessness
from a Full Member nation to score a century in Guwahati earlier in 2026, while his latest 16-ball ef- that allows him to score at a pace that leaves little
men’s T20Is. fort puts him joint-fourth with Hardik Pandya’s 16- room for the opposition to recover.
Only Estonia’s Sahil Chauhan, who scored a ball fifty against South Africa in Ahmedabad in 2025. India’s 221/7 ultimately provided the backdrop.
27-ball century against Cyprus in 2024, and Tur- What makes Abhishek’s record even more strik- The real story was the extraordinary burst at the top
key’s Muhammad Fahad, who hit a 29-ball hundred ing is his frequency. He now has six T20I fifties in 20 — 108 runs from 34 deliveries, 76 during the pow-
against Bulgaria in 2025, have reached three figures balls or fewer — the most by any batter in the short- erplay, 30 balls for a century and a succession of re-
faster in T20I cricket. est format. Yuvraj Singh, Colin Munro, Adil Butt, cords falling around him.
For India, however, Abhishek’s achievement Finn Allen and Dasun Shanaka have three each. In an era when T20 cricket constantly demands
was even more significant. His 30-ball hundred The Afghanistan innings also highlighted an- innovation and aggression, Abhishek Sharma is
erased a record that had stood for almost a decade. other dimension of his hitting. His 11 sixes were the showing that there may still be new levels of power
Rohit Sharma had scored a 35-ball century second-most by an Indian batter in a T20I innings. to discover.

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