Abhishek Sharma sets new record as fastest to reach 2,000 T20I runs

India opener Abhishek Sharma became the fastest player to reach 2,000 T20I runs by balls faced during the third match against West Indies in Indore on Sunday.

The Record

Abhishek reached the 2,000-run milestone in his 33rd run during the match, taking 1024 deliveries to break the previous record held by former skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who took 1164 balls. Last month against Afghanistan, Abhishek also scored a century in 30 deliveries, which is the fastest by an Indian in the format, breaking Rohit Sharma's 2017 record. In July during a match against England, the left-hander from Punjab also became the fastest batter to smash 100 sixes in T20Is, surpassing West Indies player Evin Lewis and edging past the Indian record previously held by Suryakumar Yadav.

Match Details

West Indies won the toss and chose to bowl first in Sunday's third T20I, leaving the five-match series level at 1-1. Both teams made two changes to their line-ups. West Indies brought in Quentin Sampson for Romario Shepherd and Keemo Paul for Akeal Hosein. For India, Nitish Kumar Reddy replaced Shivam Dube, while Prince Yadav took the place of Kuldeep Yadav.

Context

Cricket records related to speed and scoring rates are closely tracked in modern limited-overs formats where aggressive batting from the opening overs often decides the match outcome. Such milestones highlight the growing emphasis on high strike rates in international cricket today.