The ongoing battle of six hitting by two of the fastest openers in Indian cricket has got a new twist.
This occurred during an impressive series sweep against Afghanistan rather than through an individual show of prowess.
Abhishek Sharma pulled back and hit a short ball that was drifting outside off stump for a six during the third game of the T20 series.
The youngster scored 86 runs from 26 deliveries as India registered an impressive 127-run victory in the 3-0 sweep.
In the process, he hit two fours and four maximums after putting up 57 runs in the previous game of the series.
That brought Abhishek's 2026 total of sixes one step further. It is important in light of whom he is competing with.
In 2026, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, only fifteen years old, has been trying hard to keep up with Abhishek's impressive rate of scoring sixes.
Sooryavanshi recently scored 86 sixes in T20 matches in India's tour of Zimbabwe in a calendar year.
He surpassed the record of 85 sixes of Suryakumar Yadav set in 2022 to become the second-best six-hitter in a calendar year by an Indian batsman.
It was accomplished during the final match in the series, where Sooryavanshi made 81 runs off 49 balls to aid India in scoring 192/5 and defeating Zimbabwe by 35 runs.
This led to Sooryavanshi being awarded both the Man of the Match and Man of the Series titles.
"Yes, this is indeed the moment of dreams coming true for me. Winning my first Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards, I am really happy," Sooryavanshi stated.
As Sooryavanshi was pursuing Suryakumar, Abhishek continued to flee from both of them in the same race.
List of the present one having the highest number of sixes hit by Indian batsmen in T20 matches in a particular year is: 108 sixes hit by Abhishek Sharma in 2025, 87 sixes hit by Abhishek Sharma in 2024, 86 sixes hit by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in 2026, and 85 sixes hit by Suryakumar Yadav in 2026.
Abhishek, who has hit 86 sixes in just 26 balls in the year, continues adding to his record list.
It should be noted that Sooryavanshi is able to smash his 86 sixes at an average of one maximum per every 4.99 balls, which is slightly faster than the pace at which Abhishek accomplished his record-setting feat in 2024—1 every 6.54 balls.
The competition between the two batsmen is not limited to this T20I schedule. The rivalry between them goes all the way back to the IPL, where it has been equally fierce.
Sooryavanshi was only six sixes away from breaking the record of Abhishek for most sixes in an IPL season by an Indian batter.
Abhishek holds the record after scoring 42 sixes and 36 fours in an IPL season, scoring 484 runs in 2024.
Meanwhile, Sooryavanshi had already scored 37 sixes and 34 fours in 400 runs with a strike rate of 238.09 in nine matches by that stage of IPL 2026.
Both the openers ended this Afghanistan series in a good manner, whereas Sooryavanshi still could not make his way into the Indian playing eleven for T20Is against Afghanistan.
This clearly highlights a key point about the six-hitting contest that is not just a contest between the two within the same games but a separate battle throughout the season for dominance.
For the Indian team management, this is indeed a difficult selection issue in a positive manner, where they have two fearless and big-hitting openers, one being the international player, whereas the other is an under-15 record breaker.
Captain Shreyas Iyer, who scored 29 runs off 20 balls in the same Afghanistan decider match, has also praised the fearless approach of both youngsters in the opening slot.
