Abhishek Sharma is arguably the most destructive T20I opener in the world today. The left-hander is ranked no.1 in the ICC T20I batting rankings and was at his destructive best once again during the first T20I against New Zealand in Nagpur on Wednesday (January 21). Put into bat, Abhishek's heroics helped India to register another rollicking PowerPlay.
India ended the six-over mark at 68-2 with the southpaw scoring 31 of those runs off just 15 deliveries. While he has scored big runs at freak speeds, it is the PowerPlay where Abhishek is most lethal. The 25-year-old feasts on the bowlers with the field restrictions on and has sensational hand-eye coordination to smash pace and spin.
More than 60 percent of Abhishek's sixes in T20Is have come in the PowerPlay. In fact, no other batter comes close to him in this metric. For the record, Abhishek has hit 49 sixes during this period and the next best is Pakistan's Sahibzada Farhan with 28. The big gulf in numbers indicate Abhishek's terrific six-hitting skills in the first six overs.
During his 7th fifty in T20Is, Abhishek also got to a unique world record in the shortest format. The left-hander got to the milestone in just 22 balls, making this the eighth time that he has reached 50 in less than 25 balls in T20Is. Abhishek went past England's Phil Salt, West Indies' Evin Lewis and his own captain Suryakumar Yadav who have all done it seven times.
Abhishek's explosive innings once again showed why he remains the biggest threat in India's explosive batting line-up. The 25-year-old's PowerPlay assault will be critical to India's fortunes, not just in this series but inevitably for T20 World Cup 2026.