Abhishek Sharma entered his name in the history books on Sunday (December 14) by becoming the first batter in the world to hit six on the first ball of his team’s innings three times. In the ongoing third
India-South Africa T20I match at HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala, Abhishek faced the first ball of India’s innings bowled by Lungi Ngidi and opened his and India’s account by hitting a six.
In 2025, this is the third time Abhishek has opened his and India’s account by hitting six on the first ball of the innings.
The first such incident took place during the India-UAE Asia Cup match in Dubai on September 10, and then on September 21, during the India-Pakistan Asia Cup Super 4s match, he gave the same treatment to Shaheen Shah Afridi as well.
Rohit Sharma was the first Indian to hit six on the first ball of India’s innings. He achieved the feat against England in March 2021 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Yashasvi Jaiswal joined him in the elite list during the India-Zimbabwe match played at Harare Sports Club in July 2024, and on February 2, 2025, Sanju Samson also smacked a six on the first ball of India’s innings.
Indian batters hitting first ball of a T20I innings for a six
| BATTER | BOWLER | AGAINST | VENUE | YEAR |
| Rohit Sharma | Adil Rashid | England | Ahmedabad | 2021 |
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | Sikandar Raza | Zimbabwe | Harare | 2024 |
| Sanju Samson | Jofra Archer | England | Mumbai (WS) | 2025 |
| Abhishek Sharma | Haider Ali | UAE | Dubai | 2025 |
| Abhishek Sharma | Shaheen Shah Afridi | Pakistan | Dubai | 2025 |
| Abhishek Sharma | Lungi Ngidi | South Africa | Dharamsala | 2025 |
Abhishek has scored 1569 runs in 40 T20 matches played so far in 2025. If he manages to score at least 46 runs in the remaining two T20Is against South Africa, then he will break Virat Kohli’s record of scoring the most T20 runs in a calendar year by an Indian batter. In 2016, Kohli played 31 T20 matches for two teams – India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru – and amassed a total of 1614 runs.
The world record for scoring the most T20 runs in a calendar year is in the name of former West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran. In 2024, Pooran played 76 matches and amassed a total of 2331 runs.
