Abhishek Sharma lit up Nagpur with a blazing knock in the first T20I against New Zealand, smashing a 22-ball fifty as India cruised to a big win.
Opening the batting, Abhishek played with full freedom from the start. He hit four fours and four sixes to reach his half-century, putting New Zealand under pressure early.
The knock was not just quick, it was historic. Abhishek Sharma now holds the world record for the most T20I fifties scored in 25 balls or fewer, doing it eight times.
He moved ahead of Phil Salt, Suryakumar Yadav and Evin Lewis, who had seven such fifties each.
Abhishek also set an Indian record against New Zealand. His 22-ball fifty is now the fastest by an Indian in T20Is versus the Kiwis, going past the 23-ball efforts of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma.
New Zealand won the toss and chose to bowl, hoping dew would help later in the night. India made a few changes, with Ishan Kishan returning to the side and Sanju Samson opening alongside an in-form Abhishek.
For New Zealand, Kristian Clarke made his T20I debut. But the visitors struggled to contain India’s power hitting as the hosts piled up 238/7.
The match is part of a five-game T20I series being seen as key preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, starting February 7. India are the defending champions, with Suryakumar leading the side.
After the match, Suryakumar said the team was comfortable batting first despite the dew factor and praised the depth in the squad on his 100th T20I appearance.
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said the pitch looked good for batting and called the series a fresh challenge after his team’s recent ODI success in India.
India went on to win the match by 48 runs, taking a 1-0 lead in the series and underlining Abhishek’s growing role as an ultra-attacking top-order batter ahead of the home World Cup.