Abhishek Sharma (born 4 September 2000) is an Indian

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who plays for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

. He made his debut against Zimbabwe in July 2024. His maiden T20I century came in his second match. He plays as a left-handed

opening batter In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batters play through their team's innings, there always being two batters taking part at any one time. All eleven players in a team are required to bat if the innings is completed (i.e., if ...

and a left arm

spinner Spinner may refer to: Technology * Spinner (aeronautics), the aerodynamic cone at the hub of an aircraft propeller * Spinner (cell culture), laboratory equipment for cultivating plant or mammalian cells * Spinner (computing), a graphical widget in ...

. In domestic cricket, he represents

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

and in the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...

, he plays for

Sunrisers Hyderabad The Sunrisers Hyderabad, also known as SRH, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Hyderabad, Telangana, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by Kalanithi Maran of the Sun Group and was found ...

Early life

Sharma was born on 4 September 2000 in

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

, in

Punjab, India Punjab () is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states ...

, into a

Punjabi Hindu Punjabi Hindus are adherents of Hinduism who identify ethnically, linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Punjabis and are natives of the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. Punjabi Hindus are the third-largest religious g ...

family to parents, Manju and Raj Kumar Sharma. He is the youngest of three, with two elder sisters, Komal and Sania. Sharma completed his schooling from Delhi Public School in the

Rama Krishna Puram Ramakrishna Puram popularly known as R.K. Puram, is a residential colony in the South West district of Delhi, India. History Rama Krishna Puram area was built in the second phase of the extension of New Delhi. Construction of R K Puram star ...

neighborhood of

South West Delhi South West Delhi (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Dakṣinṇa Paścima Dillī'') is one of the eleven administrative districts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India. Kapashera serves as the administrative headquarters of South West Delhi. Sout ...

. He is a friend of

Shubman Gill Shubman Gill (born 8 September 1999) is an Indian international cricketer who is the captain of the India Test team. Gill is ranked the number one batter in the ODI rankings as of May 2025. Nicknamed as Prince of Indian Cricket and Kaka, Gill ...

since childhood and they used to open the innings for

in the under-14s.

Yuvraj Singh Yuvraj Singh (born 12 December 1981) is a former Indian international cricketer who played in all formats of the game. An all-rounder who batted left-handed in the middle order and bowled slow left-arm orthodox, he has won 7 Player of the Se ...

played a role in coaching Sharma during the COVID-19 lockdown period.

Career

Sharma scored a century in his maiden U-16 match in the domestic cricket tournament for the 2015–2016 Vijay Merchant Trophy. He scored 1,200 runs at an average of 109.09. He then made his U-19 debut for Punjab in the

Vinoo Mankad Trophy Vinoo Mankad Trophy is a national level under 19 age group One-day cricket tournament of India. Board of Control for Cricket in India organises it. It involves junior teams of affiliated state cricket association of BCCI. The tournament is na ...

in 2016. He made his debut in

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for Punjab in the

2017–18 Ranji Trophy The 2017–18 Ranji Trophy was the 84th season of the Ranji Trophy, the premier first-class cricket tournament that took place in India between October 2017 and January 2018. Vidarbha won the tournament, beating Delhi by 9 wickets in the final, ...

on 6 October 2017. He led Punjab to their maiden

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is a domestic Twenty20 cricket championship in India, organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). It is named after former Test cricketer Syed Mushtaq Ali. It is played by the teams from the R ...

win in the 2023-24 season finishing as the second-highest run scorer of the tournament with 485 runs from ten innings at an average of 48.50 and a strike rate of 192.46, registering two hundreds and three fifties. Sharma played in the

2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy The 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy was the 26th edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, an annual List A cricket tournament in India. Karnataka were the defending champions. It was contested by 37 domestic cricket teams of India, starting on 19 Se ...

for Punjab. On 28 February 2021, playing for Punjab against

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

, he scored the fastest hundred by an Indian in

List A cricket List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the num ...

, in 42 balls. Sharma captained the Indian team to victory at the 2016 U19 Asia Cup and was the player of the match during the final. He also led the team during an ODI series against England U19 in 2017. He was a key member of the team that won the 2018 U19 World Cup. He scored a half-century against

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

in the quarterfinal match of the tournament.

Franchise career

In January 2018, he was bought by

Delhi Daredevils The Delhi Capitals, formerly the Delhi Daredevils, also known as DC, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Delhi that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by GMR Group and JSW Sports. Its home groun ...

in the 2018 IPL auction for Rs 5.5 million. In May, he made his debut and went on to score 46 runs off 19 balls. In February 2022, he was bought by

for the 2022 edition. During the tournament, he played 14 matches and scored 426 runs. In

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, he scored the fastest fifty for SRH against

Mumbai Indians The Mumbai Indians are a professional Twenty20, Twenty20 cricket team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Indians were founded in 2008 and are owned by India's largest Conglomerate (company), co ...

at the

Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium The Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, commonly known as Uppal Stadium, is an international cricket stadium in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It is owned and operated by Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA). It is the home ground of ...

. He also finished the season with 484 runs in 16 matches and a strike rate of 200. He was the second highest run-scorer for the team after

Travis Head Travis Michael Head (born 29 December 1993) is an Australian international cricketer who represents the Australia national cricket team in all formats and is the current Test Captain (cricket), vice-captain. A left-handed batter and part-tim ...

. He won the Most Sixes award for hitting the highest number of sixes (42) in the tournament. During the 2025 season, Sharma hit his first century of the league in 40 balls during the match against

Punjab Kings The Punjab Kings, also known as PBKS, formerly known as Kings XI Punjab, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in New Chandigarh, Punjab, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is jointly owned by Mohit Burm ...

. He scored 141 runs off 55 balls, the highest individual score by an Indian in the league's history. It was also the third highest individual score of all time. Additionally, it was the highest score by an SRH batter and the fifth-fastest hundred witnessed by the league.

International career

Sharma was called up for India's 2024 tour of Zimbabwe and he made his international debut in the first match on 6 July. He scored his maiden T20I century in the second match of the series, making 100 runs at the Harare Sports Club. In 2025, he made the highest individual score for India in T20Is, making 135 runs from 54 balls against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. His innings included 13 sixes and seven fours and was India's second fastest T20I century. Following the innings, he rose to second in the men's T20I world rankings.

International centuries

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Abhishek 2000 births Living people Indian cricketers Punjabi people Punjabi Hindus Cricketers from Amritsar India Twenty20 International cricketers 21st-century Indian sportsmen Delhi Capitals cricketers Punjab, India cricketers Sunrisers Hyderabad cricketers