Abhishek Sharma hits 12-ball fifty for joint third fastest T20 half-century in Syed Mushtaq Ali
Hyderabad (PTI): Abhishek Sharma on Sunday smashed the joint third-fastest half-century and broke his own record for most sixes by an Indian in a T20 innings, blasting an unbeaten 148 in Punjab's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy clash against Bengal here.
His fifty, which came off just 12 deliveries, is also the joint second fastest by an Indian.
The World No 1 T20 batter hammered 16 sixes and eight fours overall, providing a strong platform for his side as he put on a whopping 205 runs inside 13 overs with opener Prabhsimran Singh.
His 16 sixes in an innings is now the joint third highest along with Afghanistan's Hazratullah Zazai and New Zealand's Finn Allen.
Estonia's Indian-origin Sahil Chauhan holds the record of most sixes in a T20 innings (18), which he hit against Cyprus in June 2024.
Abhishek hit a 12-ball fifty to equal the record of his mentor and former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh during the Elite Group C clash played here at the Gymkhana Ground.
Abhishek came out firing against a Bengal pace attack which included India bowlers Mohammed Shami and Akash Deep, as he faced only one dot ball while hitting five sixes and as many fours to make his half-century off 12 balls.
He targeted Bengal bowlers down the ground as well as on the leg side, with most of his sixes coming in front of the square. The record of fastest half-century for any Indian in men's T20 belongs to Ashutosh Sharma, who had recorded it in 11 deliveries for Railways against Himachal Pradesh in their Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy match in 2023-24.
Abhishek thus joins Yuvraj, West Indies' great Chris Gayle, Zazai and Chauhan in scoring half-centuries off 12 deliveries in men’s T20s.
The record of fastest fifty in T20s belongs to Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee, who had completed his in a mere nine balls against Mongolia at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.
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Jai Bhim: Slogan that energised Dalits was first given at this central Maharashtra village
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (PTI): 'Jai Bhim': These two words have come to symbolise the awakening and empowerment of the Dalit community in independent India, but not many people know how it originated.
The slogan, which also encapsulates the immense reverence in which Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is held, was first raised at the Makranpur Parishad, a conference organised at Makranpur village in Kannad teshil of today's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district in Maharashtra.
Ambedkar, the chief architect of India's Constitution, died on December 6, 1956.
Bhausaheb More, the first president of the Scheduled Castes Federation of Marathwada, organised the first Makranpur Parishad on December 30, 1938.
Dr Ambedkar spoke at the conference and asked the people not to support the princely state of Hyderabad under which much of central Maharashtra then fell, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Pravin More, Bhausaheb's son.
"When Bhausaheb stood up to speak, he said every community has its own deity and they greet each other using the name of that deity. Dr Ambedkar showed us the path of progress, and he is like God to us. So henceforth, we should say 'Jai Bhim' while meeting each other. The people responded enthusiastically. A resolution accepting 'Jai Bhim' as the community's slogan was also passed," More told PTI.
"My father came in contact with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in his early years. Bhausaheb was aware of the atrocities the Nizam state committed on Dalits. He told Ambedkar about these atrocities, including the pressure to convert. Dr Ambedkar was strongly against these atrocities, and he decided to attend the 1938 conference," he said.
As Ambedkar was against the princely states, he was banned from giving speeches in the Hyderabad state but was allowed to travel through its territories. The Shivna river formed the border between Hyderabad and British India. Makranpur was chosen as the venue for the first conference because it was on the banks of Shivna but lay in the British territory, ACP More said.
The stage made of bricks, from where Dr Ambedkar addressed the conference, still stands. The conference is organised on December 30 every year to carry forward Ambedkar's thought, and the tradition was not discontinued even in 1972 when Maharashtra experienced one of the worst droughts in it history.
"My grandmother pledged her jewellery for the conference expenses. People from Khandesh, Vidarbha and Marathwada attended it. Despite a ban imposed by the Nizam's police, Ambedkar's followers crossed the river to attend the event," said ACP More.
"This is the 87th year of Makranpur Parishad. We have deliberately retained the venue as it helps spread Ambedkar's thought in rural areas," he added.
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