Abhishek Sharma responded to Yuvraj Singh’s playful jibe after he smashed a stunning knock of 113 runs in just 38 balls against New Zealand in the third T20I of a five-match series at the Hnry Stadium in Wellington as the Men in Blue chased down a total of 199 with 40 balls to spare.
The 26-year-old completed his 4th T20I century in just 35 balls, and he broke a series of world records while putting up a 113-run partnership with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
However, one record that he failed to breach was scoring the fastest fifty in T20Is, which, among players from Test-playing nations, is still held by Yuvraj Singh. The Indian cricket superstar had reached his half-century in just 12 balls against England in the 2007 T20 World Cup at Durban during his famous knock, in which he smashed six sixes in an over of Stuart Broad.
After Abhishek’s remarkable effort against New Zealand, Yuvraj took to social media and poked fun at Abhishek for not being able to break the record. However, he was reserved high praise for his protege and praised Sooryavanshi and Sanju Samson.
“You still can’t get 50 of 12 can you @OfficialAbhi04! Looks like two left handers batting in their backyard!,” wrote Yuvraj on X.
“And I can’t make 100 of 30 or 34 balls. Well played sir @OfficialAbhi04! Great innings aur apne single bhi le liye. Good stuff on the other end by #VaibhavSooryavanshi! Devastating combination! Hats off to @IamSanjuSamson, playing at no. 3 as a complete team man! Well-bowled by our bowlers to keep the score under 200! Great series win, congratulations Team India!”
Abhishek Sharma Responds
Abhishek responded to Yuvraj’s remarks in the post-match presentation and stated that it is not easy to achieve what Yuvraj managed almost two decades ago. “I mean, I’ve said this before as well. I don’t know what cricket he was playing back at that time, but it’s not that easy at all. And I would say if any batter wants to go there and bat like that, it’s not easy at all. You can’t just go and score 50 off 12 balls. It just happens once in a while,” said Abhishek.
For those unversed, Abhishek and Yuvraj share a close bond. The latter, who is one of India’s greatest ever crcketers has been the mentor of the 2026 T20 World Cup-winner for a number of years.