Star Indian batter Abhishek Sharma has said that Yuvraj Singh told him after the second match not to force himself on every delivery, adding that he didn’t need to hit all the balls over the boundary but could also run between the wickets.
With a 30-ball century, Abhishek’s innings is now the third in the list of fastest T20I hundreds.
Estonia’s Sahil Chauhan smashed a 27-ball hundred against Cyprus in June 2024, the fastest in men’s T20Is, while Turkey’s Muhammad Fahad reached three figures in just 29 balls against Bulgaria in July 2025.
“And in the last match, I only got a text from him that I should not be forcing all the balls. Specifically, in these conditions, if I just take one or two singles in between, it isn’t, you know, in my slot,”
Abhishek said while speaking to the host broadcaster.
“But obviously, sir always wants me to play long, and I always have it in my mind that if I give the team such a start, obviously, when we are on the winning side, that is always in my mind,” Abhishek added.
The innings was also the 26-year-old’s third hundred in the shortest format, to go with 12 fifties.
Abhishek went firing on all cylinders after a rather slow start, which saw him smacking his first boundary on the fourth delivery of the opening over.
Abhishek found his rhythm in the second over, smacking two sixes and a four off Azmatullah Omarzai before going ballistic against Fazalhaq Farooqi in the third, smashing two sixes and as many fours off the first four balls.
Abhishek brought up his fifty in the fifth over off just 16 deliveries and raced to 76 off 22 balls, taking India past the 100-run mark by the end of the powerplay.
Abhishek’s blitz came to an end on the penultimate ball of the 10th over when he edged one behind off Rashid Khan.
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