Abhishek Sharma scripts history, becomes fastest player to achieve this feat in T20Is

India batter Abhishek Sharma continued his stunning form in T20Is with a phenomenal knock of 84 against New Zealand. His knock played a key role in the hosts posting a mammoth total of 238/7 on the board after 20 overs. The innings also saw Abhishek break Andre Russell's record and become the fastest player to score 5000 T20 runs.

The India batter achieved the milestone after facing 2898 deliveries, surpassing Russell who had reached the mark from 2942 deliveries. Abhishek has played a total of 165 innings in T20 cricket so far and now has 5002 runs under his name, including 29 fifties and 8 hundreds. He boasts an exceptional strike-rate of 172.48 and an average of 33.34.

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Fastest to 5000 T20 runs (as per balls faced) -

2898 – Abhishek Sharma (India) 
2942 – Andre Russell (West Indies) 
3127 – Tim David (Australia) 
3196 – Will Jacks (England) 
3239 – Glenn Maxwell (Australia)

Abhishek breaks multiple records

Another record that the left-hand batter broke was for the fastest fifty by an Indian against New Zealand in T20Is. Abhishek brought up his half-century after facing just 22 deliveries, breaking the previous record that was jointly held by Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul at 23 deliveries.

Meanwhile, Abhishek and Rinku Singh proved to be India's star performers as they defeated New Zealand comprehensively by 48 runs in the first T20I. After being invited to bat first, Abhishek helped the hosts get off to a strong start with a fabulous knock. He formed a valiant 99-run partnership with Suryakumar Yadav, who played a decent knock of 32. Hardik Pandya played a cameo of 29 before Rinku's quick-fire 44 led the Men in Blue to hand a target of 239  to the Kiwis.

India's brilliant all-round performance

In reply, the visitors struggled from the get-go and lost both Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra within the first two overs of their innings. Glenn Phillips tried to lead New Zealand's fightback with his knock of 78, but it didn't prove to be enough as the Indian bowlers kept it tidy and restricted the opposition to 190/7 in 20 overs. The win saw Suryakumar & Co. take a vital 1-0 lead in the five-match series and will now be aiming to make it two wins in a row with the second T20I that will be played in Raipur on January 23.