After his 38-ball 113, Abhishek Sharma plays down Yuvraj’s 12-ball fifty challenge

Abhishek Sharma may have idolised Yuvraj Singh growing up, but the India opener is not ready to take up his mentor's challenge of smashing a half-century off 12 balls, saying such feats are "not that easy", even as he struck a match-winning century against New Zealand in the third T20I on Tuesday (October 27, 2026).

Responding to Yuvraj's playful social media message that he still could not score a fifty off 12 balls, Abhishek said batters do not chase such milestones.

His comments came after India registered a six-wicket, with the left-hander earning the Player of the Match award.

"I don't know what cricket he was playing back at that time, but it's not that easy at all," Abhishek said during the presentation ceremony.

"I would say if any batter wants to go there and bat like that, it's not easy at all. You can't just go and score 50 off 12 balls. It just happens once in a while," he added.

Abhishek said the focus, particularly for him and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, was to get the team off to a flying start and sustain the momentum.

"As a batter, we don't go for that milestone. We always want to win the game for the team, especially Vaibhav. He's here. So that was the plan, and that's what we want to take throughout the series as well, and it went well," he said.

Abhishek credited the coaching staff and the extensive practice with sidearm deliveries for helping him execute his natural game, saying preparation was crucial to reading the conditions and adapting to bowlers.

"I feel it's not that, I wouldn't say it's easy, that easy, but it's just the preparation behind the scenes. I would say a special mention to our coaches because of the sidearms; we've been playing them a lot," he said.

"If you see the conditions and the dimensions, that's always in your mind, and then you have to keep the bowlers also in your mind and play the shots according to the bowlers. And that's all I do."

Abhishek said the team had a good practice session on Monday (October 26) and he was keen to make the most of it.

"We had a good practice session yesterday, and I just wanted to utilise it, and that's what I did. I feel I pretty much, you know, manifested this innings, and it happened," he said.

The left-hander also highlighted Sooryavanshi's start in the opening over, saying it helped set the tone for the innings.

"The way he started the first over, Vaibhav, I think that was really special. And that was the plan for us, get the momentum for the team and then just keep going," Abhishek said.