Abhishek Sharma was back to his usual marauding best on return to T20 cricket after a couple of indifferent outings in List-A cricket for India A, as he smashed a 32-ball century against Bengal at the Gymkhana Ground in Hyderabad on Sunday, November 30. Captaining the side on Sunday, Abhishek opted to bat first and it was all Punjab from then on as the southpaw and Prabhsimran Singh went hammer and tongs from the outset against a quality Bengal bowling attack.
Abhishek and Prabhsimran just kept on hitting and the left-hander just didn't stop. Abhishek raced off to a 12-ball fifty, equalling his mentor Yuvraj Singh's record and didn't stop at that. Bengal had Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Shami and Akash Deep in the line-up, but it didn't matter for Abhishek, who just wanted to take on each and every bowler. While Prabhsimran got out for 70, Abhishek continued on his work.
Abhishek brought up his century off just 32 balls, the joint-fourth fastest by an Indian player in T20 cricket as he equalled Rishabh Pant's record. This was Abhishek's eighth century in T20 cricket, the joint-second most for an Indian player as he equalled Rohit Sharma on the elite list. Virat Kohli is still at the top with nine T20 centuries against his name.
Fastest century by an Indian player in T20 cricket
28 Balls - Urvil Patel vs Tripura, 2024
28 Balls - Abhishek Sharma vs Meghalaya, 2024
31 Balls - Urvil Patel vs Services, 2025
32 Balls - Abhishek Sharma vs Bengal, 2025
32 Balls - Rishabh Pant vs Himachal, 2018
Most T20 centuries by Indian players
9 - Virat Kohli (397 innings)
8 - Abhishek Sharma (157 innings)*
8 - Rohit Sharma (450 innings)
7 - KL Rahul (226 innings)
6 - Sanju Samson, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav
Abhishek kept hitting even after getting to the century. The southpaw was dismissed for 148 off just 52 balls by Akash Deep but he had done his job by then. Some late contributions from Ramandeep Singh and Sanvir Singh meant that Punjab posted a huge score of 310 runs on the board, becoming just the fifth team to breach the 300-mark in T20 record.
Bengal only had their skipper, Abhimanyu Easwaran, scoring an unbeaten 130 off just 66 balls, but there was no contribution from anyone else, until a quick late cameo by Akash Deep, who smashed five sixes in his seven-ball stay. Bengal could muster just 198 runs in the end and Punjab won the game by 112 runs.
