Dubai [UAE], September 27 : India's red-hot opener Abhishek Sharma is on the verge of surpassing records of T20I titans Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Mohammed Rizwan as Men in Blue prepare to take on arch-rivals Pakistan in the final of the Asia Cup in Dubai on Sunday.
Heading into the tournament, there was excitement about Abhishek Sharma as he had delivered several strong performances in two seasons in the Indian Premier League (IPL), pairing alongside Australian all-format star Travis Head. The two delivered sky-rocketing starts for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
In six matches and innings in the Asia Cup match so far, Abhishek has emerged as the top run-getter, with 309 runs at an average of 51.50 and a strike rate of 204.63, with three fifties and a best score of 75, with all these half-centuries coming in succession during the Super Four stage.
He stands just 11 runs away from breaking Virat Kohli's record of most runs by an Indian during a multi-nation T20I Tournament. Back in 2014, Virat had delivered a 'Player of the Tournament' award-winning campaign in the T20 World Cup, scoring 319 runs in six innings with four fifties at an average of 106.33.
Also, Abhishek is just 23 runs away from torching England opener Phil Salt's record for most runs by a batter from a Test-playing nation in a T20I tournament or series. Back in 2023, during a tour to the West Indies, Salt had smashed 331 runs in five T20Is at an average of 82.75 and a strike rate of 185.95, with two centuries and a best score of 119.
Abhishek is tied with Rohit Sharma (November 2021 to February 2022) and Rizwan (April to October 2021) for most successive 30-plus scores in T20s, with a total of seven such scores, another 30+plus score could help him leapfrog these two stars.
This year in T20I, Abhishek has delivered aggression and consistency, with 588 runs in 11 matches at an average of 53.45 and a strike rate of 211.51, with a century and four fifties.
His overall stats in T20Is include 844 runs in 23 matches and 22 innings at an average of 38.36, with a strike rate of 197.65, with two centuries and five fifties and a best score of 135.