Abhishek Sharma Smashes 12-Ball Fifty, Enters Record Books in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Abhishek Sharma etched his name into cricket’s record books on Sunday, hammering a blistering 12-ball half-century for Punjab against Bengal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Hyderabad. The knock stands as the joint-third-fastest fifty in men’s T20 cricket and the joint-second-fastest by an Indian in the format.

Opening alongside Prabhsimran Singh, Abhishek unleashed a ruthless onslaught on Bengal’s attack, which featured senior India pacer Mohammed Shami and Akash Deep. He maintained an astonishing scoring rate—well above 15 runs per over—punishing Shami, Deep, Saksham Choudhary and Writtick Chatterjee with equal ferocity. His 12-ball fifty included five fours and five sixes, with only a single dot ball faced during the milestone-making carnage.

The world record for the fastest men’s T20 fifty belongs to Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee, who raced to the landmark in just 9 balls against Mongolia at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. India’s Ashutosh Sharma sits second with his 11-ball effort for Railways in the 2023–24 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Abhishek has now become the fifth batter to reach a 12-ball fifty in men’s T20s. The illustrious list includes Yuvraj Singh, whose unforgettable assault featuring six sixes in an over came during the 2007 T20 World Cup; Chris Gayle, who achieved the feat in the Big Bash League in 2016; and Hazratullah Zazai, who matched it in the Afghanistan Premier League in 2018. The most recent instance before Abhishek was Estonia’s Sahil Chauhan, who blasted a 12-ball fifty against Cyprus while scoring a remarkable 144 off 41 balls.

With his latest display of power-hitting, Abhishek Sharma has reinforced his rising stature in India’s domestic T20 circuit and added a prestigious record to his growing cricketing résumé.