Abhishek Sharma scored 12-ball fifty for Punjab against Bengal in SMAT 2025
The World No 1 T20 batter provided a strong platform for his side
He blasted 16 sixes in an innings and has become the joint third highest
Abhishek Sharma, who is leading Punjab in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025, on Sunday (November 30), scored a 12-ball fifty against Mohammed Shami-led Bengal pace attack.
Punjab were playing Bengal in the in an Elite Group C game where the Punjab opener smashed seven fours and 11 sixes, striking a blistering rate of 300-plus.
The World No 1 T20 batter provided a strong platform for his side as he put on a whopping 205 runs inside 13 overs with opener Prabhsimran Singh.
His 16 sixes in an innings is now the joint third highest along with Afghanistan's Hazratullah Zazai and New Zealand's Finn Allen.
Estonia's Indian-origin Sahil Chauhan holds the record of most sixes in a T20 innings (18), which he hit against Cyprus in June 2024.
Abhishek's 12-ball fifty saw him equal the record of his mentor and former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh at the Gymkhana Ground.
Abhishek came out firing against a Bengal pace attack which included India bowlers Mohammed Shami and Akash Deep, as he faced only one dot ball while hitting five sixes and as many fours to make his half-century off 12 balls.
He targeted Bengal bowlers down the ground as well as on the leg side, with most of his sixes coming in front of the square. The record of fastest half-century for any Indian in men's T20 belongs to Ashutosh Sharma, who had recorded it in 11 deliveries for Railways against Himachal Pradesh in their Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy match in 2023-24.
Abhishek thus joins Yuvraj, West Indies' great Chris Gayle, Zazai and Chauhan in scoring half-centuries off 12 deliveries in men’s T20s.
The record of fastest fifty in T20s belongs to Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee, who had completed his in a mere nine balls against Mongolia at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.
(with PTI inputs)
