Indian cricket team batter Abhishek Sharma scripted history as he achieved a unique feat during the Asia Cup 2025 Super Four encounter against Bangladesh on Wednesday. Abhishek Sharma looked in tremendous form once again as he slammed a 25-ball fifty. He looked all set for a big century but was dismissed run-out after scoring 75 off just 37 deliveries.
During his knock, Abhishek Sharma slammed five sixes and in the process, the youngster became the first cricketer ever to slam 15-plus sixes in a single edition of Asia Cup. Abhishek Sharma, who has now slammed 16 sixes in Asia Cup 2025 till now, broke the record which belonged to Sri Lanka legend Sanath Jayasuriya who slammed 14 sixes back in 2008.
Young opening batter Abhishek Sharma entered his name in the history books on Wednesday, September 24, by becoming the third cricketer from India to achieve more than 900 rating points in the ICC T20I batter’s rankings. The 25-year-old left-handed batter from Punjab, who scored 74 runs from 39 balls against Pakistan in Dubai on September 21, has 907 rating points to his credit in the latest ICC T20I batter’s rankings released on Wednesday, September 24.
Before him, only Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav have managed to achieve more than 900 rating points in the ICC T20I batter’s rankings from India. Surya’s career-best rating points in T20Is are 912, whereas Kohli’s best rating points are 909.
Abhishek Sharma’s whirlwind 75 seals the Final Berth for Team India
Abhishek Sharma blended power with copious amount of grace to smash a 37-ball-75 before indiscreet cricket from the other batters restricted India to a par 168 for six. Â Abhishek Sharma, who is in the middle of a dream phase, hit six fours and five huge sixes in his sizzling effort. He looked good for a century but a fantastic one handed stop and quick action throw from Rishad Hossain stationed at short third-man sent him back to the dugout.
At the other end, Indian batters played some poor strokes– whether it was Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma or skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who was caught brilliantly down the leg-side by stand-in captain and keeper Jaker Ali. Team management’s inability to fit Sanju Samson was apparent as he couldn’t be fitted into the top seven.
Having scored 96 in first 10, India managed only 72 in next 10 overs with Axar Patel (10 off 15 balls), promoted ahead of Samson, looking out of place. For Bangladesh, pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib (1/29 in 4 overs) looked quicker than what the speedometer displayed and Mustafizur Rahaman (1/33 in 4 overs) as usual used his change of pace deliveries to good effect.
But leg-spinner Rishad Hossain (2/27 in 3 overs) should be given a lot of credit for giving the ball air and getting the prized scalps of Gill and Shivam Dube, usually a fine player of wrist spinners, bringing Bangladesh back in the game after a poor Powerplay. When India started batting, the first three overs of the Powerplay was uneventful but in the fourth over, Gill and Abhishek Sharma took 21 runs off left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed with a six each in their kitty.
Bangladesh’s most experienced T20 bowler Mustafizur was greeted by Abhishek with a six over long-on that landed near the Indian dugout and bounced into the middle tier. The over ended with innings 50 completed and Abhishek’s third six — a slashed six over backward point. India were cruising at 72 for no loss in the powerplay with last three overs costing 56 runs. Once Gill (29 off 19 balls) was holed out off Rishad, Abhishek Sharma duly completed his second successive half-century in the tournament off 25 balls.
The ploy to send Dube (2) to attack their wrist spinner didn’t work out as Rishad got his second wicket with a leg-break that the burly Mumbai hitter wanted to slog against the turn. Once Abhishek was run-out, India completely lost the momentum. Tanzim, coming for his second spell got Tilak caught at deep mid-wicket boundary before Hardik Pandya (38 off 29 balls) played his first significant knock of the tournament to take his team close to the 170-run mark.
India then on the back of Kuldeep Yadav’s 3-fer went on to trounce Bangladesh by 41 runs and seal the place in the Finals on 28th September 2025. Amazed with the batting ability of Abhishek Sharma, Former Indian keeper Dinesh Karthik has applauded Abhishek Sharma for his hurricane knock and is pleased with the way the batter blazes away with his innings in the Powerplay.
Dinesh Karthik is in all praise of Abhishek Sharma after his whirlwind 75 runs in the Asia Cup 2025
Former wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik hailed Abhishek Sharma for another match-winning knock in India’s Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 clash against Bangladesh. India beat Bangladesh by 41 runs and qualified for the finals. Batting first, India posted a competitive total of 168/6. Explosive opener Abhishek Sharma once again got the team off to a fiery start. The left-hander smashed his second consecutive half-century.
Dinesh Karthik reckoned that Abhishek was batting on a different level. Speaking on Cricbuzz after the game, he said:
“He is just turning out to be a very strong opener. Somebody who is very trustworthy at this point of time. The fact that he is able to get runs on different pitches. He is very resilient and able to adapt to different conditions. To be fair, he is batting on a different celestial plane altogether.”
Abhishek Sharma has taken India’s batting approach in T20Is to another level. The team plays attacking cricket, looking to make the most of the first six overs. Dinesh Karthik lauded him for his ability to utilise the powerplay by having worked on his six-hitting ability.
“The trend was slowly getting there, where you needed to really press and push on as an opener, to make use of those six overs in the powerplay. What he’s done phenomenally well, is his skill of his hitting sixes.
Whenever he got the opportunity, he said he practised in big grounds with his dad, so hitting sixes in smaller grounds became very comfortable. The confidence with which he is hitting sixes sets him apart. There are players who find gaps and those who are sure of hitting the ball outside the boundary line and that he is right now. He is an extremely special asset to have,” he added.
Abhishek Sharma slammed a 37-ball 75 at a strike-rate of 202.7. His terrific knock included six boundaries and five maximums. He was also awarded ‘Player of the Match’ for his sensational display with the bat. In the same conversation, Dinesh Karthik also reflected that Abhishek Sharma has been so good that he is keeping big names away from the Indian T20I side. He highlighted the fact that Abhishek has been playing match-winning knocks with consistency and a similar approach.
“At this point in time in team India, the toughest to play would probably be the T20 format. That position where he is in is probably the toughest because everybody who is somebody playing this format is good at that spot.
He is keeping out the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Sai Sudharsan. For him to reach a level where he is almost unanimously number one tells you the level that he has gone to. He is playing match-winning knocks consistently and still maintaining that high tempo,” he said.
The young Indian opener is the leading run-getter in the Asia Cup 2025. He has scored 248 runs from five matches at an average of 49.60 and a strike-rate of 206.66 with two half-centuries. With India already into the Finals on 28th September 2025, their match vs Sri Lanka on 26th should be another practice for Abhishek Sharma for the big Final against Pakistan or Bangladesh depending on their results in their match on 25th September which is a virtual semi final for both the teams.
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