Abhishek Sharma Creates History, Becomes 2nd Player In The World To...

Abhishek Sharma entered his name in the history books on Friday (May 22) by becoming the first Indian and overall second player in the world to hit 40-plus sixes in multiple T20 series or tournaments. The 25-year-old left-handed batter from Amritsar opened the innings for Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL 2026 match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Friday and scored 56 runs off 22 balls.

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During his stay at the crease, he smashed four fours and five sixes. Those five maximums helped him take his tally of sixes to 43 in 14 matches of IPL 2026.

Abhishek had also hit more than 40 sixes in the 2024 edition of the IPL. He played 16 matches that season for the Hyderabad-based franchise and smashed

42 sixes.

Before Abhishek, only Chris Gayle had managed to hit 40-plus sixes in multiple T20 series or tournaments.

Players to hit 40 or more sixes in a T20 series/tournament

PLAYER	COUNTRY	TEAM	SERIES	MATCHES	RUNS	SIXES	EDITION
Chris Gayle	West Indies	Royal Challengers Bengaluru	IPL	15	733	59	2012
		Royal Challengers Bengaluru	IPL	16	708	51	2013
		Rangpur Riders	Bangladesh Premier League	11	485	47	2017
		Royal Challengers Bengaluru	IPL	12	608	44	2011
Abhishek Sharma	India	Sunrisers Hyderabad	IPL	14	563	43*	2026
		Sunrisers Hyderabad	IPL	16	484	42	2024
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi	India	Rajasthan Royals	IPL	13	579	53	2026
Andre Russell	West Indies	Kolkata Knight Riders	IPL	14	510	52	2019
Jos Buttler	England	Rajasthan Royals	IPL	17	863	45	2022
Rilee Rossouw	South Africa	Somerset	Vitality Blast	16	623	42	2022
Riyan Parag	India	Assam	Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy	10	510	40	2023-24
Sahibzada Farhan	Pakistan	Peshawar Region	National T20 Cup	7	605	40	2024-25
Nicholas Pooran	West Indies	Lucknow Super Giants	IPL	14	524	40	2025

The legendary West Indies batter Chris Gayle smashed 59 sixes in IPL 2012, 51 in IPL 2013, and 41 in IPL 2011 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He also hammered 47 sixes for Rangpur Riders in the 2017 edition of the Bangladesh Premier League.

By taking his tally of sixes to 43 in IPL 2026, Abhishek Sharma broke his previous record of 42 sixes in a single IPL season.

Among Indian batters, only Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has hit more sixes than Abhishek in a T20 series or tournament. The 15-year-old left-handed batter from Bihar has smashed 53 sixes in 13 matches of IPL 2026 for Rajasthan Royals.

If Vaibhav manages to hit at least seven sixes in RR’s final league match against Mumbai Indians on Sunday (May 24) at Wankhede Stadium, he will break Gayle’s record for the most sixes in a T20 series or tournament.