Abhishek Sharma leaves behind Rishabh Pant, matches IPL discard’s record for fastest T20 century for India

Chasing 143 in Rajkot, the 24-year-old Punjab cricketer hit a blistering knock of 106 runs in just 29 balls, a sizzling strike rate of 365.52, laced with 11 sixes. With the knock, he matched Urvil Patel’s record for the fastest T20 hundred by an Indian batter. The Gujarat cricketer had smashed a 28-ball century during a Syed Mushtaq Ali match, against Tripura last week, just days after he went unsold at the IPL 2025 mega auction for his base price of INR 30 lakh. The record for the fastest T20 hundred is held by Estonia’s Sahil Chauhan, who smashed a 27-ball ton against Cyprus earlier this year.

Abhishek’s unbeaten 106 helped Punjab chase down the target in only 9.3 overs.

The win saw Punjab remain in the fourth spot in Group A table, with 20 points from seven matches, comprising five wins, while Meghalaya remained at the bottom of the table as they are yet to register a win in the tournament in seven games.

A big turnaround for Abhishek

The knock against Meghalaya marked a significant turnaround for the SRH batter, who had been going through a lean run in international cricket. After his breathtaking century against Zimbabwe in the second innings of his international career in the T20I series against Zimbabwe in July, Abhishek has only managed 156 runs in the next nine innings, with just one half-century score.

Earlier this year, Abhishek burst into fame following an impressive show in IPL 2024, where he forged a dangerous opening partnership with Travis Head. He amassed 484 runs during the season at an astonishing strike rate of 204.21, which included the fastest-ever fifty scored by an SRH batter – a 16-ball knock against Mumbai Indians.