Abhishek Sharma levels with Yuvraj Singh, surpasses Virat Kohli after explosive fifty in Asian Games final

Abhishek's explosive knock included seven sixes and three fours, coming at a strike rate of 217.68. His seven sixes saw him join former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh at the top of the list for most sixes in an innings in India-Pakistan T20Is.

Yuvraj had also smashed seven sixes against Pakistan in Ahmedabad in 2012, while Abhishek had earlier hit five sixes against the arch-rivals in Dubai in 2025 during Asia Cup.

With his latest effort, Abhishek also took his overall tally of sixes against Pakistan in T20Is to 14, the most by any batter in matches between the two sides. He surpassed former India batter Virat Kohli's tally of 11 sixes against Pakistan.

The 26-year-old also continued to strengthen his record for most sixes by an Indian batter in T20 cricket in a calendar year. Abhishek has now hit 104 sixes in 2026, following his record 108 sixes in 2025.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is second on the list in 2026 with 90 sixes, while Abhishek had hit 87 sixes in 2024. Suryakumar Yadav had smashed 85 sixes in 2022.

Abhishek also entered an elite list for reaching 100 sixes in a calendar year in the fewest balls. He reached the milestone in 651 balls in 2026, second only to West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell, who took 589 balls in 2019. Dewald Brevis is third with 653 balls in 2025, followed by Chris Gayle (724) and Karanbir Singh (728).

The Indian opener further climbed the list of batters to reach 400 T20 sixes in the fewest balls.Abhishek achieved the milestone in 3,513 balls, behind Russell's 3,027 and ahead of Gayle's 3,557. Tim David (3,803), Kieron Pollard (3,944) and Nicholas Pooran (4,045) complete the list.

Abhishek's 61 off 28 balls played a key role in India's strong total in the gold medal clash against Pakistan. The Men in Blue posted 211/6 against Pakistan in the men's T20 gold medal match at the 2026 Asian Games, powered by quickfire half-centuries from Abhishek and Tilak Varma (51* off 22). For Pakistan, Ahmed Daniyal and Arafat Minhas claimed two wickets each. (ANI)