IND vs ZIM 2nd T20I: Abhishek Sharma Redeems Debut Duck With 46-Ball Century in Second International Appearance

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Abhishek Sharma redeemed himself from a debut duck and announced his arrival in international cricket with a 46-ball century against Zimbabwe in the second T20I against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club in Harare on Sunday (July 7).

A day after registering a 4-ball duck in his first international outing, Abhishek proved his worth in the shortest format, opeing his account with a six, a similar shot to which he was dismissed in the first T20I, but this time the southpaw's pull off Brian Bennet cleared the ropes at deep square.

Abhishek Sharma, who earned his call up after building up a reputation for his aggressive style filled with maximums in IPL 2024 with Sunrisers Hyderabad, continued his six-hitting madness on the international stage.

Despite losing opening partner and skipper Shubman Gill in the second over, the 23-year-old steadied ship with Ruturaj Gaikwad before taking on the attack to the Zimbabwe bowlers.

Sharma reached his maiden fifty in 33 balls, but raced to the next landmark inside just 13 balls, scoring 26 off a single over delivered by Dion Myers. His knock that had some luck with dropped catches, included 8 sixes and 7 fours.

The 23-year-old was dismissed off the very next ball after he reached his maiden century, but created a few records with the brisk knock in Harare. Sharma has now taken the least innings to score a T20I hundred, eclipsing Deepak Hooda's feat of three innings.

Sharma also became the fourth youngest player to score a T20I hundred after Yashasvi Jaiswal, Gill and Suresh Raina. Here is a look at the youngest Indians to smash a century in T20I:

Youngest Indian to score T20I century (Stats courtesy CricBuzz)

• Yashasvi Jaiswal vs Nepal in 2023 - 21 years & 279 days
• Shubman Gill vs New Zealand in 2023 - 23 years & 146 days
• Suresh Raina vs South Africa in 2010 - 23 years & 156 days
• Abhishek Sharma vs Zimbabwe in 2024 - 23 years & 307 days

This was also the joint third fastest T20I hundred by an Indian batter with Rahul. The fastest record is still held by Rohit Sharma, who smashed a century in 35 balls against Sri Lanka in 2017. Suryakumar Yadav is second in the list with a 45-ball century.

As mentioned earlier, Abhishek shared a 137-run stand with Gaikwad, who also scored a half century to power India past 200. Following Sharma's departure, Rinku Singh, who had also scored a duck in the 1st T20I, bounced back with an unbeaten cameo filled with 5 sixes.

Gaikwad (77* off 47 balls) and Rinku (48* off 22 balls) shared an 87-run stand to take India to a massive total of 234/2 in their allotted 20 overs. For Zimbabwe, Blessing Muzarabani and Wellington Masakadza claimed a wicket each.