Seven Sixes, Two Landmarks: Abhishek Sharma Matches Yuvraj, Overtakes Kohli Against Pakistan

Seven sixes in 28 balls. Abhishek Sharma’s assault on Pakistan in the Asian Games men’s cricket final brought two familiar names into the frame: Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli.

The India opener smashed 61 in Aichi-Nagoya on Saturday, matching Yuvraj’s record for the most sixes in an innings in India-Pakistan T20Is and overtaking Kohli’s aggregate tally in matches between the two sides. His innings, featuring seven sixes and three fours, helped India post 211/6 in the gold medal clash.

Tilak Varma supplied another burst of acceleration with an unbeaten 51 off 22 balls. For Pakistan, Ahmed Daniyal and Arafat Minhas picked up two wickets apiece.

ABHISHEK MATCHES YUVRAJ’S SEVEN-SIXES RECORD

Yuvraj had struck seven sixes against Pakistan in Ahmedabad in 2012. Abhishek’s effort put him alongside the former India all-rounder at the top of the list.

The left-hander had previously hit five sixes against Pakistan during the 2025 Asia Cup in Dubai. Saturday’s innings extended his impressive run against the opposition and lifted his career tally against Pakistan in T20Is to 14 sixes.

That took him past Kohli’s 11, giving Abhishek the most sixes by any batter in T20Is between India and Pakistan.

ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER CENTURY OF SIXES

The final also pushed Abhishek’s six-hitting tally across T20 cricket in 2026 to 104. He had hit 108 in 2025, the calendar-year record for an Indian batter.

The 26-year-old is now four short of matching that mark. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is second among Indian batters in 2026 with 90 sixes. Abhishek’s earlier tally of 87 in 2024 and Suryakumar Yadav’s 85 in 2022 underline the scale of his successive seasons.

The speed at which he has reached those numbers is equally striking. Abhishek needed 651 balls to complete 100 T20 sixes this year, placing him second on the list for the fewest deliveries required to reach the milestone in a calendar year.

Only Andre Russell has done it faster, taking 589 balls in 2019. Dewald Brevis needed 653 in 2025, followed by Chris Gayle with 724 and Karanbir Singh with 728.

SECOND-FASTEST TO 400 T20 SIXES

Abhishek also reached 400 career T20 sixes in 3,513 balls, moving ahead of Gayle, who needed 3,557.

Russell remains the quickest to that milestone, having taken 3,027 deliveries. Behind Abhishek and Gayle are Tim David with 3,803, Kieron Pollard with 3,944 and Nicholas Pooran with 4,045.

For India, the immediate value of Abhishek’s innings was the platform it created in a gold medal match. For the opener, it added another set of landmarks to a game increasingly defined by how quickly he clears the boundary.

With inputs from ANI