Ashutosh Sharma scripts new record of fastest fifty by an Indian, breaks Yuvraj Singh's record

Ashutosh Sharma has broken former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh’s record of the quickest fifty by an Indian player. The middle-order batter achieved the feat during Railways' clash against Arunachal Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in a Group C clash in Ranchi. He raced to his half-century in just 11 balls.

With only five overs remaining, the score was 131 for 4, and Ashutosh entered the crease for batting. He then hit 53 off 12, which included one boundary and eight sixes. After hitting his record-breaking half-century, the Railways batter dismissed in the subsequent ball and returned with an astounding strike rate of 441.66. Four of his sixes flew over the covers and long-off area while two cleared the long-on and two more went on to the leg-side boundary behind square. Notably, his team finished on a dominant 246 for 5 after scoring 115 runs in only the final five overs.

The 25-year-old was playing in his 10th overall and second Twenty 20 game for Railways. He made his T20 debut for Madhya Pradesh in the 2017–18 Zonal T20 League on 12 January 2018 and last took part in the format in 2019. Meanwhile, he has only played in one 50-over match, also for Madhya Pradesh in 2019, and has yet to see action in a first-class match.

For the uninitiated, Yuvraj held the record for the quickest fifty in T20 cricket overall for 16 years before it was broken last month against Mongolia in the Asian Games in Hangzhou by Dipendra Singh Airee from Nepal. He smashed a half-century in 12 balls against England in the inaugural edition of the Men’s T20 World Cup in 2007. The 41-year-old's Durban knock is also quite famous where he hits six sixes in an over off England's Stuart Broad.