Indian opener Abhishek Sharma celebrated a significant milestone in the second T20I against England as he made his 50th T20I appearance at Old Trafford in Manchester. Since making his T20I debut in 2024, Abhishek has established himself as a key member of India’s T20I line-up. In his first 50 T20Is, the left-hander has scored 1546 runs in 48 innings at an impressive average of 33.60 and a staggering strike rate of 193.25. His tally includes two centuries and 11 half-centuries, while he smashed 152 fours and 102 sixes.
100 sixes for Abhishek
Abhishek Sharma recently became the fastest player in T20I (full member country) history to hit 100 sixes, achieving the milestone in just 785 balls. During the first T20I against England in Durham, his explosive knock of 59 off 24 balls secured this historic world record.Abhishek’s milestone came on a historic day for Indian cricket, when 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made his international debut and became the youngest player ever to feature in a men’s T20I. After winning the toss, Indian captain Shreyas Iyer elected to bat first and Abhishek opened the innings along with debutant Sooryavanshi.Speaking about India’s depth during the draw, Iyer said the stiff competition for places is a positive sign for Indian cricket and believes “pressure is a privilege”, as it forces the players to give their best.”Match after match like the amount of talent India has been producing in the last few months and years. I think it’s pleasing to the eye and also keeps us especially tense throughout the series. Because pressure is a privilege, I feel. And if you perform under pressure, you will also get advantages,” Shreyas during the toss.
Playing XI
India: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (ie), Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Harshit Rana, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy.England: Philip Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Harry Brook (c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue.
