India opener Abhishek Sharma added another remarkable chapter to his breakthrough 2026 season with a scintillating 69 off 30 balls against the West Indies in the third T20I and a historic personal milestone.
Abhishek Sharma proved why he deserved to be India’s priority opener with his sheer aggression and perseverance in India’s third T20 international against the West Indies on Sunday. The left-hander smashed a major record, dethroning T20 World Cup-winning captain Suryakumar Yadav to become the fastest player to reach 2,000 T20I runs in terms of balls faced.
Against the West Indies’ bowling attack, Abhishek smashed 69 off 30 deliveries, helping deliver the Men in Blue a commanding start after Sanju Samson’s dismissal.
Abhishek smashes major record
Abhishek achieved a major milestone in Indore, becoming the fastest batter to reach 2,000 T20I runs (in terms of balls faced). The opener needed just 1,024 deliveries, securing the record after scoring 33 in the third T20I against the West Indies.
Suryakumar previously held the record, scoring 2,000 T20I runs in 1,164 deliveries.
Notably, Abhishek is the sixth Indian to do so, with the other five members of India’s 2,000-run club being Rohit Sharma (4,231 runs), Virat Kohli (4,188 runs), Suryakumar Yadav (3,272 runs), Hardik Pandya (2,288 runs) and KL Rahul (2,265 runs).ย
Abhishek Sharma has enjoyed a record-breaking 2026 season, shattering multiple milestones despite a few setbacks along the way.
More from Firstcricket‘We need to remain ruthless’
Following the match, Abhishek revealed that India never felt completely safe despite claiming wickets regularly, as the West Indies had the batting firepower that can turn the match around. He added that the team’s key focus was on staying ruthless, maintaining pressure and denying the hosts any chance to stage a comeback.
โI think the West Indies is the kind of team against whom you can never say that the match has swung completely in our favour. That was in our minds, because we saw in the last match as well that whichever batter walks in, given the conditions here, it’s very easy for them to take the game away from anywhere.
“So that was in our minds; even when wickets were falling, the talk in the huddle was that we need to remain ruthless from here on, not let them off the hook, and not give them even a single chance to make a comeback,โ he said.
India and the West Indies will be back in action for the fourth T20I match of the series on Wednesday, October 14, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.