After enduring a series of low scores on his comeback to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as Punjab’s captain, Abhishek Sharma produced a breathtaking counterattack on Sunday morning, hammering a record-breaking century against a seasoned Bengal bowling attack at the Gymkhana Ground in Hyderabad.A 12-ball fifty with 50 runs in boundaries Sent out to open after Punjab opted to bat first, Abhishek found rhythm immediately. He blasted his way to a half-century in just 12 deliveries, launching into his former SunRisers Hyderabad teammate Mohammed Shami for 23 runs in a single over. The scale of the assault was astonishing. By the time he reached his fifty, the left-hander had scored 50 of his first 51 runs in boundaries, smashing five sixes and five fours to leave Bengal stunned.
Alongside him, Prabhsimran Singh also fired up early, helping Punjab surge past 120 inside eight overs. Abhishek continued to muscle sixes straight down the ground, repeatedly targeting the V region with brutal precision.Equals Rohit Sharma; only Virat Kohli ahead The carnage didn’t stop. Abhishek stormed to a century in 32 balls, finishing with 11 sixes and seven fours before reaching triple figures. This knock marked his eighth T20 hundred in 157 innings, bringing him level with Rohit Sharma. Among Indian batters, only Virat Kohli (nine) has more T20 centuries. Just last season, Abhishek smashed a 28-ball hundred against Meghalaya, the joint-fastest by any Indian in T20 cricket. He also struck 87 sixes in T20s in 2024, the most by an Indian man in a single year.Breaks his own six-hitting record With 16 sixes in this innings alone, Abhishek went past his 2024 tally, becoming the first Indian to cross 90 T20 sixes in a calendar year.Most T20 sixes by an Indian in a calendar year
- 91* (33 innings) – Abhishek Sharma (2025)
- 87 (38 innings) – Abhishek Sharma (2024)
- 85 (41 innings) –
Suryakumar Yadav (2022) - 71 (33 innings) – Suryakumar Yadav (2023)
- 66 (31 innings) – Rishabh Pant (2018)
- 63 (42 innings) – Shreyas Iyer (2019)
- 60 (32 innings) –
Sanju Samson (2024)
Punjab cross the 300-run mark Abhishek eventually departed for a spectacular 148 off 52 balls, with 16 sixes and eight fours, but not before powering Punjab to a score beyond 300. They have now become only the second Indian T20 side, after Baroda against Sikkim in 2024, to breach the 300-run barrier.
