Abhishek Sharma betters Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav for MASSIVE Indian batting feat

Punjab all-rounder Abhishek Sharma, who plays for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL, created history recently during his side's last group stage match against Madhya Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021. The young southpaw scored the second-fastest hundred in List A cricket by an Indian player after he reached the three-figure mark in just 42 balls. Incidentally, this is the second such knock played by any batsman in the 2021 edition of the tournament.

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SRH all-rounder Abhishek Sharma scores second-fastest List-A ton by an Indian

A few days ago, Mumbai batsman Suryakumar Yadav slammed a ton in just 50 balls against Puducherry. However, Abhishek Sharma surpassed not only him but Indian captain Virat Kohli as well when it comes to records of the fastest centuries in List-A cricket. Kohli had scored a 52-ball ton in 2013 against Australia in an ODI in Jaipur, bettering Virender Sehwag back then. Notably, the overall record is currently held by the recently retired Yusuf Pathan, who scored a 40-ball century for Baroda in 2010.

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Chasing a mammoth target of 403, Abhishek Sharma opened the innings for Punjab and provided a brisk start and laid the foundation of the chase by scoring 104 runs off 49 balls, an inning that included eight fours and nine sixes. Despite the sensational start, Punjab fell short by 105 runs as they were bowled out for 297.

Earlier in the day, Madhya Pradesh opener Venkatesh Iyer had scored a stunning 198 off 146 balls to guide his side to a massive 402/3. With the defeat against Madhya Pradesh, Punjab crashed out of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 with three wins and two losses from five games. 

Meanwhile, Abhishek Sharma was retained by SRH ahead of the IPL 2021 auction. With his brilliant performances in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021, the dynamic all-rounder has must have grabbed the eyeballs of his franchise. Abhishek Sharma will look to replicate his performances in the IPL 2021 and be a regular starter in SRH.s playing XI.

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SRH IPL 2021 team 

SRH players retained 

David Warner (c), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha, Shreevats Goswami, Priyam Garg, Virat Singh, Rashid Khan, Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Nabi, Abhishek Sharma, Mitchell Marsh, Jason Holder, Abdul Samad, T. Natarajan, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Basil Thampi, Shahbaz Nadeem, Siddharth Kaul and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

SRH players bought at IPL auction 2021 

Jagadeesha Suchith, Kedar Jadhav and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

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SOURCE: ABHISHEK SHARMA INSTAGRAM