IND vs NZ 3rd T20I: Mentor Yuvraj takes sly dig at Abhishek Sharma’s 14-ball fifty, says ‘still can’t get…’

Yuvraj Singh was one of cricket’s biggest match winners, let alone for India, and what he has trained in Abhishek Sharma has done wonders for India since.

Abhishek is Team India’s premier T20I opener, surging to top form since elevating his hitting game playing for the SunRisers Hyderabad in the IPL. While it hasn’t been long since he made his India debut, Abhishek is breaking batting records for fun, be it for his strike-rate, number of sixes in a game or for the quickest fifty and hundreds in the format.

Also read | IND vs NZ: Abhishek's blitzkrieg sweeps New Zealand in Guwahati, India pocket T20I series 3-0

Against New Zealand in the recently concluded 3rd T20I in Guwahati, he almost broke his mentor Yuvraj’s fastest T20I fifty record (12 balls), scoring his in 14 balls, the second quickest for India in T20Is. The left-armer knows his strengths and weaknesses, having openly talked about them earlier during this series, including having a limited range of shots. Despite that, he has managed to scale heights in this trending format, making everyone proud, including Yuvraj, who took to his social media handle (X) to take a sly dig at him while expressing pride over his performance.

“Still can’t get a 50 off 12 balls, can you? 🤪 Well played - keep going strong! 💪🏻 @OfficialAbhi04 #IndVSNz,” Yuvraj wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Meanwhile, sharing his thoughts on his 14-ball fifty, the fastest for India in this series, Abhishek said, “That's what my team wants from me, and I just want to execute all the time. But obviously, it's not easy to do it every time, but I think it's all about mental as well and the atmosphere you get around your dressing room as well.

Speaking on breaking Yuvraj’s 12-ball fifty record, the Indian opener said it’s almost impossible (for anyone) to do so.

“That's more than impossible for anyone (to break Yuvraj's fastest T20 fifty record), but still, you never know. Any batsman could do it because I think all the batters have been batting really well in this series as well, and going forward, it's going to be fun,” Abhishek said.

In Guwahati, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and elected to field first. Restricting the Kiwis to 153 for nine in the first innings, the hosts gave themselves a strong chance to seal the series, which they eventually did (3-0).

After India lost opener Sanju Samson early for the second game running, Abhishek and Ishan Kishan went berserk, stitching a 50-plus stand inside four overs. Kishan departed next on a 13-ball 28, before Suryakumar and Abhishek added 102 for the third wicket to see India home with 10 overs and eight wickets remaining.

Abhishek remained unbeaten on 68 off 20 balls, smashing five sixes and seven fours. Captain SKY completed his consecutive fifty, registering 57 not out, including three sixes and six fours.