Kamal Ghorui
India lost Abhishek Sharma for his second duck in as many innings at the T20 World Cup, but Ishan Kishan ensured the innings stayed on course with one of the fastest half-centuries in India-Pakistan T20Is.Kishan recorded the third-fastest fifty in India-Pakistan T20 internationals.Fastest 50s in Ind-Pak T20Is (by balls)
- 23 – Mohd Hafeez, Ahmedabad, 2012
- 24 – Abhishek Sharma, Dubai, 2025
- 27 – Ishan Kishan, Colombo (RPS), 2026*
- 29 – Yuvraj Singh, Ahmedabad, 2012
Kishan reached his fifty in 27 balls, getting there with a boundary off Abrar Ahmed’s second delivery in the seventh over.India were 52 for 1 at the end of the powerplay after losing Abhishek early in the T20 World Cup match on Sunday. Abhishek, who had missed the previous game against Namibia due to a stomach issue, was dismissed off the last ball of the first over. He was caught at mid-on by Shaheen Shah Afridi off the bowling of Salman Ali Agha.Kishan maintained the scoring rate and went on to make 77 from 40 balls before being dismissed. His innings was significant given the nature of the pitch. Pakistan bowled five overs of spin in the powerplay, only the 13th instance of a fifth over of spin being used inside a World Cup powerplay.Earlier, India captain Suryakumar Yadav did not shake hands with his Pakistan counterpart Salman Ali Agha at the toss, continuing the approach followed since the Asia Cup in Dubai last year.
