Ashutosh Sharma has surpassed the record held by former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh for the fastest fifty by an Indian player. This middle-order batsman achieved this milestone while playing for Railways against Arunachal Pradesh in a Group C match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Ranchi.
In this match, he reached his fifty in just 11 balls. When Ashutosh came to bat only five overs were left and the team’s score was 131 for 4 wickets. The batter then came and started hitting all around the park and gathered 53 runs in just 12 deliveries. In this inning, Ashutosh smashed one four and eight sixes. Just after completing his half-century, the batter was dismissed on the very next ball.
It’s worth noting that his team managed to post a commanding total of 246 for 5 after adding an astonishing 115 runs in the final five overs.
The 25-year-old played in his 10th T20 match ever and his second one for Railways. He started playing T20 cricket for Madhya Pradesh in 2018, but his last T20 game was in 2019. He has only played in one 50-over match, also for Madhya Pradesh in 2019, and he hasn’t played in a first-class match yet.
Yuvraj Singh held the record for the fastest fifty in T20 cricket for 16 years until it was surpassed last month during the Asian Games in Hangzhou by Dipendra Singh Airee from Nepal. Yuvraj achieved his half-century in just 12 balls against England in the first Men’s T20 World Cup in 2007. Yuvraj’s remarkable performance in Durban is also well-known, where he hit six consecutive sixes in a single over against the star pacer of England, Stuart Broad.
