Indian opener Abhishek Sharma created history for the India national cricket team, not with the bat, but with the ball as a part-time spinner against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday, July 25.
Sharma’s bowling figures of 3/17 have officially become the best bowling spell by any Indian opening batsman in the shortest format of the game. With Sharma’s incredible bowling, India won the second match of the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe by 90 runs and took an unprecedented lead on the series with one more match left to play.
Abhishek Sharma is in the same list as Ravi Shastri and Vinoo Mankad.
Shreyas Iyer-led India national cricket team registered its first series win last night after a long 6-match losing streak. While Abhishek once again proved to be a flop with the bat, he contributed more than expected with his spin bowling abilities.
Overall, across all formats, Vinoo Mankad’s bowling against Pakistan in 1952 is the best by any Indian opening batsman. In the Test match against Pakistan, Vinoo took 8 wickets for 52 runs. In ODIs, Ravi Shastri holds the record for most wickets by an Indian opening batsman. In 1991, Ravi made a record by striking 5 times against Australia. And the record of taking three wickets for 17 runs in T-20 is currently in the name of Abhishek.
Best bowling figures by an Indian opening batsman:
Test: Vinoo Mankad – 8/52 vs Pakistan (1952)
ODI: Ravi Shastri – 5/15 vs Australia (1991)
T20I: Abhishek Sharma – 3/17 vs Zimbabwe (2026)
Abhishek Sharma broke his own record in T20I
Through his match-winning bowling against Zimbabwe, Abhishek left his own previous record behind. In 2025, when India were up against England in Mumbai, the batsman, who sometimes bowled around his arm, snatched a brace of 3 runs. Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan is one of the rare Indian opening batsmen to take multiple wickets in a T20I match. Irfan’s 2 for 17 against England in Colombo in 2012 is the third best in this list.
Indian opening batsman who took many wickets in T-20
Abhishek Sharma: 3/17 vs Zimbabwe, Harare, 2026
Abhishek: 2/3 vs England, Mumbai, 2025
Irfan Pathan: 2/17 vs England, Colombo, 2012
Abhishek Sharma overtook Ravichandran Ashwin by taking 3 wickets for 17 runs against Zimbabwe
In another interesting list of records, Abhishek has become one of the most successful spinners to bowl the most effective spell against Zimbabwe in the T20 International format. Ravi Bishnoi’s figures of 4 for 13 are the best he has scored so far in 2024, and the best against Zimbabwe in this format. Abhishek’s 3/17 is behind the bowling figures of Bishnoi, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel, but is ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin’s 3/22 in Melbourne in 2022.
Best bowling figures for an Indian spinner against Zimbabwe in T20Is
4/13 – Ravi Bishnoi, Harare, 2024
3/15 – Washington Sundar, Harare, 2024
3/17 – Akshar Patel, Harare, 2015
3/17 – Abhishek Sharma, Harare, 2026
3/22 – Ravichandran Ashwin, Melbourne, 2022
Sharma has played 55 T20Is for India so far and has taken 10 wickets including 3 wickets at an economy rate of 8.43 in 20 innings.