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Abhishek Sharma's bat - (Source: X.com)
On Sunday, January 25, India scripted history as they scripted their biggest win in terms of balls remaining on home soil, courtesy of Abhishek Sharma. The Men in Blue locked horns against New Zealand for the 3rd of the five-match T20I series in Guwahati and registered a near-perfect match.
New Zealand, batting first, lost wickets at regular intervals and managed to put 153 runs on the board. It seemed to be a challenging surface, and the doubt grew after Sanju Samson lost a wicket on the first ball. However, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan quickly put the tension to rest and went all guns blazing.
Abhishek tonks the 2nd Fastest 50 by an Indian
The 25-year-old, known for his power-hitting, was unfazed by Sanju Samson’s wicket and slammed a 14-ball fifty. He nearly emulated Yuvraj Singh’s record of a 12-ball fifty, but now sits second on the list of fastest fifty by an Indian in T20Is.
Interestingly, Abhishek Sharma scored an unbeaten 68 (20) and didn’t play a single dot ball in his innings. For the unversed, it is the highest score by a batter in T20Is without playing a dot ball.
The Kiwi team inspects Abhishek Sharma’s bat
Courtesy of southpaw’s knock, India scored their fastest team 50, 100, and 150 in T20Is. Most importantly, it only took them 60 balls to complete the match. After the game got over, New Zealand players, bowler particulary, surrounded the southpaw and took his bat.
The players jokingly inspected the bat to search for a spring or some sort of unallowed item inserted in the bat, which helps him generate unbelievable power.
It was done in a light manner, and even the southpaw couldn’t resist from sharing a laugh with the opposition as Devon Conway was the one who led the inspection. The video quickly went viral and is spreading like wildfire on social media.
Abhishek 's heroics turns back clock to IPL 2024
It is not a normal sight when you see a team chase down a high total in just 10 overs, when the other team has actually struggled for runs. However, the heroics by Abhishek Sharma and team India reminded fans of IPL 2024 when SRH locked horns against Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium.
For the unversed, in the IPL 2024 match, LSG, batting first, only put 165 runs on the board. In reply, Travis Head and Sharma took the onus on their shoulders and chased down the total in just 9.4 overs.
Head scored an unbeaten 89 (30), while the left-handed batter remainded unbeaten on 75 (28). It was the same match where KL Rahul captained LSG and was scolded publically by owner Sanjiv Goenka on the field, turning the relations our between the two.
The knock also led to Rahul feeling disrespected at LSG and he then demanded a release from the team, eventually heading to Delhi Capitals for IPL 2025.
