[Watch] Abhishek Sharma's family joyously celebrate his maiden international century moment in the 2nd IND-ZIM T20I
Abhishek Sharma made headlines by scoring a sparkling maiden international century in only his second outing during the India-Zimbabwe second T20I at Harare on Sunday, July 7. His sister Komal Sharma posted the scenes in the house when he reached his ton with a hat-trick of sixes.
Abhishek was dismissed for a duck on his international debut in the series opener but made amends by becoming the joint third-fastest T20I centurion (46 balls) by an Indian batter. His heroics (100 off 47) took India to a massive total of 234/2 in 20 overs, helping them eventually seal a 100-run win.
Abhishek's sister took to her X handle to share the video of herself and the parents celebrating his century moment with the caption:
"Dream to reality. The first century celebrations of Abhishek Sharma for India. The most proud moment for us."
The 23-year-old received the India call-up after a sensational IPL 2024 campaign, scoring 484 runs at a strike rate of over 204 in 16 outings for the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Abhishek became the fourth youngest Indian to score a T20I century behind only Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Suresh Raina. As for Team India, they rebounded from a shocking defeat in the opening T20I to level the five-match series at one apiece.
"Special mention to the coaches, captains, and the team management to keep confidence" - Abhishek Sharma
Abhishek Sharma thanked the coaches and team management for keeping his confidence high despite the four-ball duck on debut.
Renowned for his ability to attack from the get-go, the southpaw smashed an incredible eight maximums in his century.
At the post-match presentation, Abhishek said about his knock:
"I felt today it was my day and I made it count. I feel T20 is about momentum and I took it to the end. Special mention to the coaches, captains and the team management to keep confidence. I always feel that as a youngster if it's your day, you have to express yourself. I always believe in my ability, if it's in my arc and even if it's the first ball, I will go after it."
Abhishek Sharma led the six-hitting charts in IPL 2024 with 42, helping SRH get off to racy starts in the powerplay. His blistering knocks helped the franchise reach the final for the first time since 2018.
Abhishek will be in action next in the third T20I at the same venue (Harare) on Wednesday, July 10.