Harare (Zimbabwe): Abhishek Sharma inked his name in the history books in only the second T20I fixture of his career. The left-handed batter played a solid knock of 100 runs from just 47 deliveries. Abhishek became the fastest Indian to score a T20I hundred from his debut smashing a century in just his second appearance. The left-handed batter surpassed Deepak Hooda who had slammed his maiden T20I hundred in the third innings of his career.
Among the players from the full-member nations, Abhishek equalled South Africa's Richard Levi and West Indies' Evin Lewis who had also scored their T20I hundred in the second appearance. Abhishek reached the three-digit figure with the help of three consecutive sixes against Masakadza. However, he was dismissed at the backward point just after amassing a century.
Abhishek made his debut in the first match of the series and was dismissed on a duck. However, he roared back to form with a bang and scored a quick-fire century in the second match.
The Indian batters struggled initially as the nature of the pitch was sluggish and it was difficult to time the shots before setting your eye in. But, Abhishek started freeing his arms once he got used to the nature of the surface and played some brilliant strokes. The youngster from Punjab smacked seven boundaries and eight maximums on his way to his maiden hundred in the shortest format of the game.
Also, the 23-year-old became the eighth Indian batter to score a T20I hundred. His knock helped the team post a challenging total of 234/2 on the scoreboard for Zimbabwe. He became the fourth youngest Indian after Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Suresh Raina to score a T20I hundred for the Men in Blue.
Batting first, India lost the wicket of skipper Shubman Gill early in the innings. However, the batters who came to bat later not only steadied the ship but also helped the visitors post a mammoth total.
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