Watching Abhishek Sharma bat at full throttle is one of the rare pleasures of T20 cricket, and the Hyderabad crowd on Thursday got exactly that. In IPL 2026, the Sunrisers Hyderabad opener delivered a breathtaking display against Delhi Capitals, finishing unbeaten on 135* to light up the contest with a knock that felt almost impossible to bowl through. Abhishek struck 10 sixes and 10 fours, reaching his century in just 47 deliveries and remaining there to complete the job.
Abhishek Sharma’s milestone-making knock
With his 135* in Hyderabad, Abhishek became the first Indian batter to register two IPL centuries in total under 40 balls across the two innings. His earlier IPL hundred also came at blistering pace: he made his first century against Punjab Kings in IPL 2025, from 40 balls.
He also matched Virat Kohli’s benchmark for the most T20 centuries by an Indian and then went a step further, overtaking Rohit Sharma’s tally of eight.
- Most hundreds in T20 cricket: 22 – Chris Gayle
- 12 – Babar Azam
- 10 – David Warner
- 9 – Quinton de Kock / Virat Kohli / Rilee Rossouw / Sahibzada Farhan / Abhishek Sharma
The innings carried another eye-catching stat as well. Abhishek has now produced 10 or more sixes in an IPL innings on two separate occasions, making him just the second batter to reach that kind of milestone multiple times after Chris Gayle, who managed four such performances.
- Hitting 10+ sixes in a T20 innings (most times): 18 – Chris Gayle
- 5 – Abhishek Sharma
- 4 – Evin Lewis / Shreyas Iyer
On the all-time IPL list, Abhishek’s score landed in elite company, as it was the fifth-highest individual total in the tournament’s history.
- Highest individual scores in IPL: 175* – Chris Gayle (RCB vs PWI, Bengaluru, 2013)
- 158* – Brendon McCullum (KKR vs RCB, Bengaluru, 2008)
- 141 – Abhishek Sharma (SRH vs PBKS, Hyderabad, 2025)
- 140* – Quinton de Kock (LSG vs KKR, Navi Mumbai, 2022)
- 135* – Abhishek Sharma (SRH vs DC, Hyderabad, 2026)
How the innings unfolded
- Abhishek blazed away to an unbeaten 135, steering Sunrisers Hyderabad to 242 for 2 against Delhi Capitals in their IPL match on Tuesday.
- He struck 10 sixes and 10 fours in his 68-ball stay, keeping the innings ticking from the opening overs to the final strikes.
- Travis Head contributed 37, while Heinrich Klaasen added 37 not out, providing the steady support needed around Abhishek’s fireworks.
- For Delhi Capitals, captain Axar Patel was the lone bowler to take a wicket as the rest of the attack struggled to find breakthroughs.
In the end, it was Abhishek’s control paired with ruthless power that defined the night—an innings that didn’t just set a huge total, but also rewrote the record books while doing it.
