There were no nerves today for Abhishek Sharma. The southpaw opener, who’d looked out of sorts in his debut, looked like the ‘old Abhishek’ in the IND vs ZIM 2nd T20I. The one who we saw smash bowlers all around the park in the IPL 2024 season. His strike rate was 212, which is incredible given how India scored just 102 runs in the first T20I against Zimbabwe.
Abhishek Sharma takes over Rohit Sharma’s mantle
The high-striking opener started with a six to Brian Bennett, the bowler who dismissed him in the first T20I and brought up his fifty with a six as well, that too in just 33 balls. As soon as he reached the milestone, he unleashed hell on the Zimbabwe bowlers. The southpaw smashed Dion Myers for a 28-run 11th over that changed the course of the Indian inning.
Mind you, on the other hand, Ruturaj Gaikwad was 29(26) when he reached his maiden fifty for India. On the pitch where batters were finding it tough to strike at over 120, Abhishek was hitting boundaries for fun and eventually ended up with a strike rate of 212.
Abhishek hit sixes and records out of the park
However, unlike the IPL 2024 season, where he maximized the powerplay and barely crossed the 6-over mark, Abhishek kicked on. He didn’t stop at 50 and went on to score his maiden century in just 46 balls. Which happens to be the joint-third fastest by an Indian player.
He also broke Rohit Sharma’s record (46) for the most sixes hit in a year by an Indian in 2024. His eight sixes (50 total in 2024) in the India vs Zimbabwe 2nd T20I took him past Rohit, as he also became the Indian to take the fewest inning (2) to make their maiden T20I century, breaking Deepak Hooda’s record (3 innings).
