Abhishek Sharma Became the First Indian After Virat Kohli to Score 50 Against Pakistan After 13 Years in T20I

Abhishek Sharma scored 74 off 39 balls against Pakistan in the Super 4 match on Sunday.

Abhishek Sharma Became the First Indian After Virat Kohli to Score 50 Against Pakistan After 13 Years in T20I

Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma (Image via NDTV Sports)

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The off-field incidents in the last week have taken over the social media when it comes to the mega India vs. Pakistan clash. However, the round 2 contest in the ongoing Asia Cup between the two sides in Dubai provided the fans with a better fight from Pakistan and overall a better contest between the two sides.

The Indian team too seemed bamboozled with the aggressive intent shown from Pakistan, and ace bowler Jasprit Bumrah looked clueless in his rare, expensive spell. There were some rare fielding lapses from India too, who dropped 5 catches in their fielding innings.

However, all the turmoil was put to rest by the Indians when their openers went out to bat. Abhishek Sharma in particular played one of the innings to remember for a lifetime. He hit Shaheen Afridi for a six of the very first ball of the innings.

Sharma, in his impeccable knock of 74 off just 39 balls, brought his name up in a rather unusual but quite remarkable statistic. Sharma became the first Indian player apart from Virat Kohli to score a T20I fifty against Pakistan.

India has maintained a very strong record against Pakistan in T20 cricket, but if there is one person who helped India create such a strong dominance over the archrivals, it was Virat Kohli. Kohli has scored a T20 fifty against Pakistan in every T20 World Cup from 2012 to 2022. The only time he failed to get past 50 against Pakistan was in the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Kohli also got mind blowing 50 against the men in green in the 2022 T20 Asia Cup. No other Indian batter was able to get to 50 against Pakistan in all these years.

Abhishek Sharma with his breathtaking batting, broke that streak and became the first batter apart from Kohli to do that. He did have verbal battles with the Pakistani pacers during his knock, but when it came to his batting, he maintained a very serene calm, which allowed him to strike the ball cleanly.

Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill respond with bold tweets

Both, Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill, were architects in India’s Asia Cup Super 4s win over Pakistan. Not many players from the Indian side had a great day, with bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav going for multiple sixes.

Sharma and Gill too had an ordinary day in the field, dropping relatively easy catches. However, when it came to them going out to bat, they were clinical from ball one. Both players looked very comfortable out there at the Dubai International Stadium and were stroking some excellent cricket shots early in the game.

Indian opener Abhishek Sharma gets into a heated battle with pacer Haris Rauf.
Abhishek Sharma and Haris Rauf (via Cricbuzz X)

However, the flames blew as the Indian opening duo had heated conversations with Pakistani spearheads Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf. Rauf in particular was involved in multiple heated arguments with the pair.

The opening batters, though, made sure they didn’t lose their concentration and looked very focused in their shot making all through the innings. After giving a fitting reply to the Pakistani bowlers on the field, both openers also gave cheeky and impactful messages through their respective social media accounts as well.

Game speaks, not words.

Shubman Gill wrote as a caption for his social media post

You talk, we win.

Abhishek Sharma wrote as a caption for his social media post

India have made the perfect start to their Super 4s campaign. Another win either against Sri Lanka or Bangladesh will more or less confirm their spot in the final that is to be held on the 28th.

Pakistan, on the other hand, now needs to win both its remaining matches against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. They would look to do that and try and meet India once again in the final, hoping for a result in their favor this time around.

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