Correspondent, 22 October: Indian opener Abhishek Sharma has claimed a major world record during the first T20 match against New Zealand. While chasing a massive target of 226 runs, the batter launched an aggressive start and surpassed 'Hitman' Rohit Sharma's record for hitting the most sixes in the powerplay.
During the innings, Abhishek scored 29 runs off merely 12 deliveries, striking two fours and three sixes. Michael Bracewell dismissed him in the sixth over of the innings. However, before heading back to the pavilion, he built a solid opening partnership of 93 runs with Sanju Samson. Samson also delivered an explosive performance, making 67 runs from 33 balls.
Although he could not play a big innings in this match, the 26-year-old Abhishek has now emerged as the new 'Sixer King' in the powerplay overs of T20 international cricket. In his 68-match career, he has struck a total of 146 sixes, with 99 of those coming exclusively in the powerplay. This stands as the highest number of powerplay sixes smashed by any batter in the history of T20 cricket.
The previous record was held by Rohit Sharma, who had smashed 98 powerplay sixes in his career. Representing India in 159 matches, Rohit accumulated a total of 205 sixes. Currently retired from Test and T20 cricket, Rohit plays only One Day Internationals. Occupying the third spot on the list of most powerplay sixes is former New Zealand batter Martin Guptill, who hit 97 sixes across 122 matches.
