World No. 1 T20I batter Abhishek Sharma needed just 14 balls on Sunday, January 25, to score a half-century for India in the third T20I against New Zealand. The 14-ball fifty by Abhishek on Sunday (January
25) at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati is the second-fastest half-century in T20Is by an Indian batter. He narrowly missed out on breaking Yuvraj Singh’s record of scoring the fastest half-century for the Men in Blue in T20Is.
During the 2007 India vs England T20 World Cup match in Durban on September 19, Yuvraj scored a fifty in just 12 balls.
After Abhishek failed to break his record, Yuvraj took to X to post a tweet in which he first trolled the 25-year-old left-handed batter from Amritsar for failing to score 50 in 12 balls but then praised him as well.
“Still can’t get a 50 off 12 balls, can you? Well played — keep going strong! @OfficialAbhi04 #IndVSNz,” Yuvraj tweeted.
Yuvraj’s tweet is now going viral on the internet.
Fastest 50 for India in T20Is
| PLAYER | BALLS | AGAINST | VENUE | DATE |
| Yuvraj Singh | 12 | England | Durban | September 19, 2007 |
| Abhishek Sharma | 14 | New Zealand | Guwahati | January 25, 2026 |
| Hardik Pandya | 16 | South Africa | Ahmedabad | December 19, 2025 |
| Abhishek Sharma | 17 | England | Mumbai (WS) | February 2, 2025 |
| KL Rahul | 18 | Scotland | Dubai (DISC) | November 5, 2021 |
| Suryakumar Yadav | 18 | South Africa | Guwahati | October 2, 2022 |
The world record for scoring the fastest 50 in T20Is is in the name of Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee.
On September 27, 2023, during Nepal’s Asian Games match against Mongolia in Hangzhou, he completed his 50 in just nine balls.
Fastest 50 in T20Is
| PLAYER | TEAM | BALLS | AGAINST | VENUE | DATE |
| Dipendra Singh Airee | Nepal | 9 | Mongolia | Hangzhou | September 27, 2023 |
| Yuvraj Singh | India | 12 | England | Durban | September 19, 2007 |
| Mirza Ahsan | Austria | 13 | Luxembourg | Ilfov County | August 31, 2019 |
| Tadiwanashe Marumani | Zimbabwe | 13 | Gambia | Nairobi (Ruaraka) | October 23, 2024 |
| Muhammad Fahad | Turkey | 13 | Bulgaria | Sofia | July 12, 2025 |
| Jan Frylinck | Namibia | 13 | Zimbabwe | Bulawayo | September 18, 2025 |
| Colin Munro | New Zealand | 14 | Sri Lanka | Auckland | January 10, 2016 |
| Ramesh Satheesan | Romania | 14 | Serbia | Sofia | June 26, 2021 |
| Sahil Chauhan | Estonia | 14 | Cyprus | Episkopi | June 17, 2024 |
| Abhishek Sharma | India | 14 | New Zealand | Guwahati | January 25, 2026 |
Abhishek, who opened his account on Sunday by hitting Jacob Duffy for a six on the first ball of his innings, remained unbeaten on 68 runs from 20 balls. During his stay at the crease, he batted with a strike rate of 340 and slammed 7 fours and 5 sixes.
His super show with the bat helped India chase down the target of 154 runs in 10 overs and secure a thumping win by 8 wickets.
