Abhishek Sharma became the first batter in history to hit 100 T20 sixes in two consecutive calendar years, reaching the landmark on October 3, 2026, when India faced Pakistan in the Asian Games 2026 gold medal fixture. The left-handed opener had previously cleared the same mark in 2025, finishing that year with 108 T20 sixes across all formats, which stands as the Indian record for a single calendar year.
Sharma was in commanding touch in the gold medal contest, scoring 61 off 28 balls and hitting 7 sixes in that innings alone. It was during this knock that he crossed the 100-six threshold for 2026, making the occasion doubly significant for the Punjab batter.
The same match also produced a second career milestone. Sharma reached 400 T20 sixes overall and did so as the second-fastest player in history to arrive at that mark, further underlining how consistently he has cleared the boundary rope across formats and competitions since breaking into international cricket.
How does Sharma’s 2026 pace compare to the all-time record?
Sharma needed 651 balls faced in 2026 to reach his 100th T20 six of the calendar year. That figure places him second on the all-time list for the fastest to the landmark within a single year. West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell holds the record, having reached 100 T20 sixes in 2019 off just 589 balls, a gap of 62 deliveries ahead of Sharma’s 2026 effort.
The comparison shows that while Sharma’s 2026 pace is exceptional by any standard, it did not surpass Russell’s benchmark set seven years ago. What sets Sharma apart is the consistency across back-to-back years, a feat Russell or any other batter has not matched. His 2025 tally of 108 sixes remains the highest by an Indian batter in a single calendar year.
Can Sharma break his own Indian record before 2026 ends?
With the Asian Games gold medal match on October 3 as the reference point, Sharma requires 4 more sixes in the remainder of 2026 to surpass his own Indian record of 108 T20 sixes in a calendar year. Editorial evidence places his running total at 104 sixes as of that date, though the precise figure after the Asian Games innings has not been independently confirmed via public sources and is noted accordingly.
India has further fixtures scheduled in 2026 beyond October 3, which gives Sharma additional opportunities to add to his tally. Whether he clears the 108-six mark will depend on his availability and form across those remaining matches. The record he is targeting is entirely his own, set just twelve months earlier.
What is already beyond dispute is that Sharma has now hit 100 or more T20 sixes in consecutive calendar years, a milestone no other Indian batter has reached. His six-hitting numbers across formats continue to place him among the most destructive openers in the shortest format of the game.
