Abhishek Sharma's debut was just forgettable. What he has been doing in international cricket since then is simply incredible. The left-handed batsman, who made his debut in the 'grandfather's' cricket by hitting a 'daka' against Zimbabwe, today scored the second century of his career.
Abhishek got his first century in the very next match after his debut. He scored it in 46 balls. Today he scored his second century against England. That too in a killing mood. He also created a record by beating Jofra Archer and Mark Wood. He scored a century as the second fastest batsman in India. Abhishek was behind another Sharma by scoring a century in 37 balls. Former captain Rohit Sharma is at the top with the fastest century in 35 balls.
However, Estonian batsman Sahil Chauhan holds the record for the fastest century in international cricket, scoring a century off 27 balls. On the other hand, Abhishek's century is the second fastest among the full-time team. South African batsman David Miller is joint-top with Rohit, scoring a century off 35 balls. Although he is the second fastest among the full-time teams in terms of balls, Abhishek has set a record century in another statistic. No other batsman has scored a century in 10.1 overs of an innings. The previous record was held by Quinton de Kock.
When he hit a century against the West Indies in 2023, the over was 10.2.
There was a chance to surpass his predecessor. But Abhishek did not get a chance to do so after giving a few balls towards the end. Earlier, the 24-year-old batsman also set the record for the second fastest fifty in India. He scored fifty off 17 balls. The owner of the fastest fifty is his idol Yuvraj Singh.
It was against England that Yuvraj scored a 12-ball fifty in the first T20 World Cup in 2007. He always acknowledged the legendary contribution of India in establishing himself as a devastating batsman in world cricket.
He scored 9 against Mongolia in 2023.
Today at the Wankhede Stadium, Abhishek looked at the cricket ball as if it were a football. Wherever he swung the bat, the boundaries kept coming. Today, the England bowlers seemed to be unable to get rid of his arm and bat. When he finally stopped, he scored a career-best 135 runs off 54 balls. He hit 7 fours and 13 sixes in his innings.
