Abhishek Sharma was on song against England in the first T20I at Chester-le-Street on Wednesday. The opener steadied India after an early jolt, displaying his fluent strokeplay in testing English conditions. With Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan dismissed early, Abhishek took charge, attacking Liam Dawson and Saqib Mahmood with a flurry of boundaries to bring a catalytic shift in the Indian innings.
An inside-out six off Dawson, followed by back-to-back maximums against Mahmood, brought up his 100th T20I six. Reaching the milestone in just 785 deliveries, Abhishek became the fastest batter among full-member nations to achieve the feat. He surpassed West Indies’ Evin Lewis for the fewest balls taken to 100 T20I sixes.
Fewest Balls To Reach 100 Sixes
In T20I (Full-Member Teams)
| Batter | Balls Taken |
|---|---|
| Abhishek Sharma* | 785 |
| Evin Lewis | 789 |
| Finn Allen | 871 |
| Tim David | 931 |
| Colin Munro | 963 |
| Suryakumar Yadav | 1007 |
Abhishek Sharma counterattacked after India’s early wickets, dominating England’s bowlers with aggressive strokeplay and shifting momentum quickly. His brisk 20-ball fifty, scoring at over 200 strike rate, steadied the innings and powered India past early trouble. Although he fell prey to Sam Curran after scoring a 24-ball 59, his timely push took India to 99/3 in 10 overs.
Earlier, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was not included in the playing XI for India’s first T20I against England in Chester-le-Street on Friday. India had won the toss and opted to bat first with no changes to the top order.
Speaking at the toss, Iyer said India would go in with three spinners. Varun Chakravarthy returns from injury, joining Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi. However, there was no mention of Sooryavanshi receiving his debut cap.
