Indian left-handed batter Abhishek Sharma equaled Urvil Patel’s record by scoring the second joint-fastest T20 century in just 28 balls on Thursday (December 5) in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024.
Chasing a modest target of 143 runs in 20 overs against Meghalaya, the Punjab captain was set off to a fierce start that helped him score a 28-ball century. Abhishek’s unbeaten 106 runs from 29 balls (including 8 fours and 11 sixes) at a massive strike rate of 365.52 ripped apart the Meghalaya bowlers by propelling his team to achieve the required target. As a result, Punjab’s total reached 144-3 in just 9.3 overs.
Considering his spin bowling abilities, Abhishek Sharma was the leading performer for Punjab. His impressive bowling figures of 2-24 in 4 overs, along with the supportive performances of Ramandeep Singh (2-18 in 2 overs), Ashwani Kumar (1-19 in 3 overs), and Sohraab Dhaliwal (1-19 in 4 overs) restricted Meghalaya to 142 for the loss of 7 wickets in 20 overs.
Despite a massive 7-wicket win that boosted the net run rate to +2.182, Punjab’s fifth victory out of seven in Group A matches couldn’t help them qualify for knockouts. With 20 points, Abhishek Sharma’s led side couldn’t confirm the top two points in the table as Bengal and Madhya Pradesh secured their spot in playoffs by gaining 24 points each.
Previously, on November 27, Gujarat’s opening batter Urvil Patel attained this feat by scoring 113 runs from 35 balls (including 7 fours and 12 sixes), who accomplished a century in 28 balls against Tripura.
Also, Abhishek Sharma scored his fourth century in the SMAT tournament, the most by any batter to date. Moreover, he topped the charts as the top Indian batter to smash the most sixes in T20s in a single year.
Decoding Abhishek Sharma’s 28-Ball Century vs Meghalaya
It is worth noting that Abhishek Sharma scored 98 runs in just 19 balls through boundaries and here is a short summary of his 29-ball-106-run knock:
- 4s × 8 balls: 32 Runs
- 6s × 11 balls: 66 Runs
- Remaining 8 Runs in 9 Balls
5 Batters with the Most Centuries in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
Abhishek Sharma ranks at the top position in the list by scoring most centuries in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy:
| Player | Role | Batting Style | Centuries in SMAT | Innings |
| Abhishek Sharma | Batting All-rounder | Left-Handed | 4 | 48 |
| Unmukt Chand | Batsman and Wicketkeeper | Right-Handed | 3 | 50 |
| Ruturaj Gaikwad | Batsman | Right-Handed | 3 | 51 |
| Ishan Kishan | Batsman and Wicketkeeper | Left-Handed | 3 | 51 |
| Shreyas Iyer | Batsman | Right-Handed | 3 | 53 |
Top 5 Indian Batters with Most Sixes in T20 in a Single Calendar Year: From Abhishek Sharma to Sanju Samson
By smashing 11 sixes against Meghalaya, Abhishek Sharma’s tally of sixes increased from 76 to 87, which is the most by any Indian batter in a T20 calendar as listed below:
| Player | Year | T20 Sixes in a Year | Innings |
| Abhishek Sharma | 2024 | 87 | 38 |
| Suryakumar Yadav | 2022 | 85 | 41 |
| 2023 | 71 | 33 | |
| Rishabh Pant | 2018 | 66 | 31 |
| Shreyas Iyer | 2019 | 63 | 42 |
| Sanju Samson | 2024 | 60 | 32 |
Top 15 Batters with Fastest T20 Centuries: Where Does Abhishek Sharma Rank in the List?
Estonia’s right-handed batsman Sahil Chauhan holds the title for achieving the fastest T20 century in 27 balls against Cyprus in June 2024 and Abhishek Sharma finds himself ranked the third position in the list:
| S.NO | Player | Team | Balls taken to score a century | Year | Opponent team | |
| 1. | Sahil Chauhan | Estonia | 27 | 2024 | Cyprus | |
| 2. | Urvil Patel | Gujarat | 28 | 2024 | Tripura | |
| 3. | Abhishek Sharma | Punjab | 28 | 2024 | Meghalaya | |
| 4. | Chris Gayle | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 30 | 2013 | Pune Warriors | |
| 5. | Rishabh Pant | Delhi | 32 | 2018 | Himachal Pradesh | |
| 6. | Sikandar Raza | Zimbabwe | 33 | 2024 | Gambia | |
| 7. | Nicol Loftie-Eaton | Namibia | 2024 | Nepal | ||
| 8. | Wihan Lubbe | North West | 2018 | Limpopo | ||
| 9. | Kushal Malla | Nepal | 34 | 2023 | Mongolia | |
| 10. | Andrew Symonds | Kent | 2004 | Middlesex | ||
| 11. | Sean Abbott | Surrey | 2023 | Kent | ||
| 12. | David Miller | South Africa | 35 | 2017 | Bangladesh | |
| 13. | Rohit Sharma | India | 2017 | Sri Lanka | ||
| 14. | Louis van der Westhuizen | Namibia | 2011 | Kenya | ||
| 15. | Martin Guptill | Worcestershire | 2018 | Northamptonshire |
Final Opinion:
Abhishek Sharma’s career has skyrocketed this year, especially after an outstanding performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, by ranking as the 10th leading run scorer with 484 runs in 16 matches. Later, he marked a stunning debut for the Indian national team by scoring a fabulous century in the 2nd T20I of the 5-match series against Zimbabwe.
Despite experiencing highs and lows moments in his international cricket career, the 24-year-old Indian all-rounder accumulated 256 runs out of 11 T20I innings.
Abhishek’s aggressive batting style as an opener, who maintained a successful opening combination with Travis Head in the 17th season of IPL was retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) ahead of the 2025 mega auction for INR 14 crore.
