Abhishek Sharma is India’s man of the moment after scoring his first T20I goal in just his second T20I match for India. In the process, he broke a host of records.

Thanks to their 100 runs in 47 balls, India posted a massive 234/2 against Zimbabwe, their highest score against the team. The bowlers then backed the batsmen as they were bowled out for 134. India won the match by 100 runs and the team made a strong statement with the series-levelling victory. There are three more matches remaining.

Abhishek Sharma reached a hundred from fifty in just 13 deliveries and became the fourth-youngest to score a T20I century for India. He hit seven fours and eight sixes in his delivery, maintaining a strike rate of over 200. Incidentally, he was dismissed for a duck on his T20I debut on Saturday and scored his maiden T20I century within 24 hours.

Speaking about his performance, Abhishek Sharma said, “I think it was a pretty good performance from me, the defeat we had yesterday was not easy for us. I felt like today was my day and I took advantage of it. I think T20 is all about momentum and I carried that through to the end,” Sharma said.

Also Read: Watch: 6,6,6: Abhishek Sharma completes maiden T20I century in impressive fashion, gets standing ovation from Shubman Gill & Co.

Abhishek Sharma thanks Shubman Gill for his support

He then had a special mention for captain Shubman Gill and the coaches of the Indian team, especially head coach VVS Laxman.

“Special mention to the coaches, captains and team management for maintaining the confidence. I always feel that as a youngster, if it’s your day, you have to express yourself,” Abhishek said in his post-match speech.

The left-hander also spoke about his partnership with Ruturaj Gaikwad, who scored 77 runs off 47 balls. The duo added a stand of 137 runs after Gill’s early exit. In that partnership, Sharma had a lifetime at the age of 27.

“We were talking after every over and he (Ruturaj) told me that I should try. I always believe in my ability, if it’s in my goal and even if it’s the first ball, I will go for it,” Abhishek Sharma concluded.

After Sharma’s knock, Rinku Singh played an incredible innings of 48 off 22 balls and played his part in taking the team’s score to 234. He hit two fours and five sixes in his knock and batted at a strike rate of 218.

The bowlers backed up the batsmen’s performance and dismissed the opposition with little effort. Mukesh Kumar and Avesh Khan picked up three wickets each, while Ravi Bishnoi took two and Washington Sundar one.

After two back-to-back matches on Saturday and Sunday, the two teams will now enjoy a two-day break before facing off in the third T20I on Wednesday. It will be interesting to see if Zimbabwe will be able to challenge this Indian team after Sunday’s win.

Interestingly, the pitch behaved very differently on Saturday and Sunday. Both matches were played on the same ground. In the first match, India could not reach 116 points to win and in the second match, they accumulated 234.

Also Read: Watch: Mukesh Kumar cleans Innocent Kaia with a perfect inswing in the second T20I