Auckland [New Zealand], October 29 (ANI): Indian opener Abhishek Sharma stands just 49 runs away from getting past KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya to become country's fourth-highest run-getter in T20Is.
Abhishek has a chance to solidify as one of India's all-time T20I greats during the fourth T20I against New Zealand at Auckland on Friday. Having smashed a 38-ball 113 during the third T20I while chasing 199, Abhishek has already established a huge record of having the most T20 centuries by an Indian (11), surpassing legendary Virat Kohli. Now, during the Auckland T20I, Abhishek gets a chance to climb up the run charts.
In 70 T20Is, Abhishek has scored 2,240 runs in 69 innings at an average of 33.43 and a strike rate of 196.83, with four centuries and 14 fifties, with best score of 135. He is currently India's sixth-highest T20I run-getter just over two years after his T20I debut.
If he adds 26 more runs to his tally, Abhishek will get past KL Rahul (2,265 runs in 72 matches with two centuries and 22 fifties) to become India's fifth-highest run-getter, while 49 more runs will take him past Hardik Pandya (2,288 runs in 138 matches with nine fifties) to become the fourth-highest run-getter for India in T20Is.
The top-three run-getters in T20Is for India are: Rohit Sharma (4,231 runs in 159 matches with five centuries and 32 fifties), Virat Kohli (4,188 runs in 125 matches with a century and 38 fifties) and Suryakumar Yadav (3,272 runs in 113 matches with four centuries and 25 fifties).
Abhishek following them to become the fourth in the list would make for a nice sequence of Indian batting generations in T20Is, with superstars like Rohit and Virat being the earliest run-machines and match-winners for India. Then will come Suryakumar, the '360-degree hitter' who took India's T20I batting several notches further in 2020s with a more aggressive strike rate, all-round strokeplay and consistency. Abhishek is a product of Suryakumar's era, who has carved his own identity in Indian cricket as an ultra-aggressive, no-holds-barred six-hitter, having hit 158 sixes so far in his T20I career, with his runs coming close to a strike rate of 200.
This year in 37 T20Is, Abhishek has made 1,125 runs at an average of 31.25 and a strike rate of 206.42, including two centuries and eight fifties and a best score of 113. He is 40 runs away from breaking Suryakumar's record of most T20I runs in a year by an Indian (1,164 runs in 2022). (ANI)
Massive chance for Abhishek Sharma to climb up India's T20I run-charts at Auckland
