Fastest men's T20I fifties, full list: Abhishek Sharma breaks Indian opening record

The Indian openers came out all guns blazing in the fifth T20I against England. Sanju Samson hit Jofra Archer for two sixes in the first over before falling in the second, for a seven- ball 16, but Abhishek continued with the onslaught.

Having scored only five off the first five balls he faced, Abhishek hit Archer for a four and two sixes in the third over; Mark Wood for two fours and a six in the fourth; and welcomed Jamie Overton in the fifth over with a six off each of the first two balls. The second six took him to 53.

At 17 balls, this is now the second-fastest men’s T20I fifty for India, after Yuvraj Singh’s 12-ball half-century against England in the 2007 World Twenty20 (now the T20 World Cup). Abhishek’s was the fastest by an Indian opener, beating KL Rahul’s 18-ball effort from 2021.

At 4.2 overs, this was also the earliest T20I fifty for India, beating Rohit Sharma’s record by four balls. Rohit had reached the milestone off the last ball of the fifth over during the 2024 T20 World Cup against Australia.

It is worth a mention that Yuvraj, who holds the Indian record from any position and is the only Indian to hit three fifties inside 20 balls, has been a mentor of Abhishek; Suryakumar Yadav, fourth on the list, is the captain of the current side; and Gautam Gambhir, fifth, is the head coach.

Fastest fifties in men’s T20Is for India