Abhishek Sharma produced a stunning 14-ball 50 to power India to a dominant 8-wicket win over New Zealand. However, his destructive innings was still trolled by his cricket guru, Yuvraj Singh.
“Still can’t get a 50 off 12 balls, can you?” the legendary southpaw quipped, adding a Zany Face emoji.
“Well played - keep going strong!” he added.
Yuvraj Singh’s playful dig at Abhishek Sharma was in reference to his own record.
At the 2007 T20 World Cup, Yuvraj Singh demolished England pacer Stuart Broad, hitting 6 sixes in one over. Yuvraj scored 50 in just 12 balls to score India’s fastest half-century in T20 cricket.
Globally, Yuvraj’s record has now been surpassed. Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee holds the world record after smashing a fifty in only 9 balls.
“Itna achha khela hai, fir bhi aap use troll kr rahe ho (He played so well, you’re still trolling him),” commented an Indian cricket fan.
Another user replied, “Bro, he's encouraging, not trolling. He wants his student to beat him. He's a real leader for students.”
“This is a guru-shishya (mentor-disciple) tradition,” commented another.
“He (Abhishek Sharma) will break this record in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026,” predicted another.
“Abhishek Sharma is literally rewriting the T20 batting script. Keep smashing it, Abhi, the fans are loving every second of this fireworks show!” came from another user.
Another fan posted, “The student is brilliant, but the Master is still the Master. 50 off 12 is the Mount Everest of T20. Abhishek is climbing fast, but the peak still belongs to you. A proud moment for the mentor today. Well played, Abhishek.”
Abhishek Sharma vs Yuvraj Singh stats in T20 cricket
Abhishek Sharma debuted for India in 2024. Since then, he has scored 1,267 runs in 35 innings, boasting an insane average of 195.22. He has already scored 2 hundreds and 8 fifties. Sharma has hit 119 fours and 86 sixes in his international T20 career so far.
His highest T20 average (271.42) is against New Zealand. In 3 innings so far, he has scored 152 against the Black Caps. Two of those innings ended in fifties.
In comparison, Yuvrah Singh played 51 innings to score 1,177 runs in his T20 career. With the highest score of unbeaten 77, Singh’s average was 28.02 while his strike rate was 136.38.
IND vs NZ 3rd T20 match
In the IND vs NZ 3rd T20 at Guwahati, New Zealand struggled to build momentum and ended on 153/9 from their 20 overs.
Glenn Phillips was the top scorer with 48 from 40 balls. Jasprit Bumrah led the bowling attack with excellent figures of 3/17. Hardik Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi picked up 2 wickets each.
India’s chase started poorly when Sanju Samson was bowled first ball by Matt Henry. Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan quickly changed the tone. They added 53 runs in just 19 balls. Kishan fell for 28, but Abhishek continued attacking.
He brought up his 50 with a six and finished unbeaten on 68 from 20 balls. Suryakumar Yadav added an unbeaten 57 to seal the victory.
The Men in Blue finished the job in just 10 overs and sealed an unassailable 3–0 lead in the 5-match series. The victory came as a strong reply after India had lost the earlier ODI series. The next match is in Visakhapatnam on 28 January.