India’s Abhishek Sharma celebrates his half-century during the match against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup Super Fours in Dubai. | ANI
India star Abhishek Sharma etched himself in the record books on Saturday. The left-hander became the joint fastest to 1000 T20I runs for the Men in Blue in the IND vs AUS 5th T20I. Abhishek could match Virat Kohli’s record only with some help, courtesy of Glenn Maxwell.
Abhishek Sharma was batting on 5 when he tried to take on Ben Dwarshius. The left-hander completely miscued his attempt with the ball heading straight up. Maxwell, stationed at mid off, moved well to position himself but dropped an absolute sitter to give Abhishek a reprieve.
Abhishek gladly accepted the gift. He needed 11 runs to reach 1000 T20I runs and did so in just his 28th innings in the format. He becomes the fastest in terms of balls faced to get the 4-figure mark.
Fastest to 1000 T20I runs by balls faced
528 – Abhishek Sharma
573 – Suryakumar Yadav
599 – Phil Salt
604 – Glenn Maxwell
609 – Andre Russell/ Finn Allen
Abhishek in terms of innings is the second fastest Indian to the milestone. Virat Kohli reigns surpreme, having reached the milestone in 27 innings. Sharma took one more inning, taking 28 innings. Kl Rahul is third on the list, having taken 29 innings to the mark.
Fewest innings to 1000 T20I runs (India)
27 – Virat Kohli
28 – Abhishek Sharma
29 – KL Rahul
31 – Suryakumar Yadav
40 – Rohit Sharma
The left-hander looked scratchy but grew in confidence after being dropped twice. Along with Shubman Gill, they raced to a 50-run partnership inside 5 overs before the game was stopped as a precautionary measure.
Sharma is the leading run-getter in the IND vs AUS t20i series and looked set for another big score. However, lightning and then rain ensured that it was unlikely to be the case.
