Abhishek Sharma, the young Indian batter, has carved his name into the history books of T20I cricket with a maiden century in the second match of the India-Zimbabwe series in Harare. He became the fourth Indian batter to achieve this feat before turning 24, joining an elite list that includes Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Suresh Raina.
Sharma’s century came in a whirlwind 46 balls, making him the joint-third-fastest Indian to reach the milestone in T20I cricket. Only Rohit Sharma (35 balls) and Suryakumar Yadav (45 balls) have done it quicker, while Abhishek matched the speed of K.L. Rahul. The highlight of his innings was undoubtedly the three consecutive sixes he hit to reach his century, a rare feat in any format of the game.
Beyond the individual brilliance, Sharma’s achievement holds further significance. He joins South African Richard Levi and West Indian Evin Lewis as the only batters from Test-playing nations to register a maiden T20I century in their first two innings since debut, highlighting the exceptional start to his international career.
However, despite Sharma’s heroics, India suffered a surprise defeat in the T20I match, falling short of the 116-run target set by Zimbabwe. This marked India’s first T20I loss after winning the T20 World Cup title, making them only the second T20 World Cup men’s champion to suffer such a defeat after their title triumph.
The loss also ended India’s 12-match winning streak across all formats of men’s international cricket, a run that stretched back to February 2024. Despite this setback, India’s overall performance in 2024 has been impressive with 20 victories out of 22 matches played across formats.
Abhishek Sharma’s maiden T20I century is a testament to his prodigious talent and bodes well for his future in international cricket. With such a promising start, the world awaits to see what this young star can achieve in the years to come.
