Historic day! Abhishek Sharma completed 50 T20Is as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s record debut

Abhishek Sharma (Image credit: BCCI) Indian opener Abhishek Sharma celebrated a major milestone in the second T20I against England as he made his 50th T20I debut at Old Trafford in Manchester. Since his T20I debut in 2024, Abhishek has established himself as a key member of India’s T20I set-up. In his first 50 T20Is, the left-hander scored 1,546 runs in 48 innings at an impressive average of 33.60 and a staggering strike rate of 193.25. His tally includes two centuries and 11 half-centuries, smashing 152 fours and 102 sixes.

100 sixes for Abhishek

Abhishek Sharma recently became the fastest player in T20I (Full Member Nations) history to hit 100 sixes, achieving the milestone in just 785 balls. During the first T20I against England in Durham, his explosive 59 knock off 24 balls secured this historic world record.Abhishek’s milestone came on a historic day for Indian cricket when 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made his international debut and became the youngest player ever to play in a men’s T20I. After winning the toss, Indian captain Shreyas Iyer elected to bat first with Abhishek opening the innings alongside debutant Sooryavanshi.Talking about India’s depth during the toss, Iyer said the fierce competition for positions is a positive sign for Indian cricket and believes “pressure is a privilege” as it forces players to perform at their best.”It’s game by game like the amount of talent that India has produced in the last few months and years. I think it’s nice to look at and also keeps us on our toes throughout the series. Because pressure is a privilege, I feel. And if you play under pressure, you also reap the benefits,” Shreyas during the toss.

Playing XI

India: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (week), Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Harshit Rana, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy.England: Philip Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Harry Brook (c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue.