IND vs SA: Heartbreak for Abhishek Sharma! Fails to break Virat Kohli's all-time T20 record by just 13 runs

Abhishek Sharma finished 2025 with 1602 runs in T20s for India, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab.

India and South Africa clashed in the fifth and final T20I of the series at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on December 19, 2025. The series stands at 2-1 in favour of India. Suryakumar Yadav lost the toss, and Aiden Markram opted to bowl first under lights.

India made three changes in their lineup, with Jasprit Bumrah coming in for Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar replacing Kuldeep Yadav, and Shubman Gill, who suffered a toe injury, being replaced by Sanju Samson.

World No. 1 T20I batsman Abhishek Sharma opened the Indian team’s innings with 34 runs from 21 balls.  The 25-year-old left-handed hitter scored 63 runs in 5.4 overs alongside Sanju Samson while he was at the crease in Ahmedabad, hitting six fours and one six. In the final over of the powerplay, Quinton de Kock caught Abhishek behind on the bowling of Corbin Bosch.

The decision came after the on-field umpire gave Abhishek out, and he took a DRS, in which UltraEdge showed a spike when the ball passed his gloves, and he was judged out by the TV umpire.

Abhishek Sharma fails to break Virat Kohli’s record of most T20 runs by an Indian in one calendar year

Abhishek Sharma missed out on the chance to break Virat Kohli’s all-time T20 record for India. Abhishek was just 12 runs away from breaking Kohli’s landmark when he was dismissed by Corbin Bosch.

Abhishek has had an incredible year in the shortest version of the game. He has hit hundreds for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and he has been the greatest batter for India in Twenty20 Internationals. In his 41 Twenty20 matches this year, the Indian opener has scored three hundreds and nine fifties.

Had Abhishek scored at least 47 runs in the ongoing match, he would have broken Kohli’s record of scoring the most T20 runs in a calendar year by an Indian batter, but he fell short by 13 runs.

While Abhishek will complete 2025 with 1602 runs in 41 matches for three teams (India, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Punjab), Kohli scored 1614 runs in 31 Twenty20 matches for two teams (India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru) in 2016.

Kohli scored 641 runs in 15 T20I matches for India and 973 runs in 16 IPL games for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in 2016. Additionally, Abhishek completed 2025 with 439 runs for SRH in 14 IPL games, 859 runs for India in 21 T20Is, and 304 runs for his state team, Punjab, in six T20s.

Most runs in a T20 calendar year by Indians

1614 – Virat Kohli in 20161602 – Abhishek Sharma in 20251503 – Suryakumar Yadav in 20221338 – Suryakumar Yadav in 20231297 – Yashasvi Jaiswal in 2023

Nicholas Pooran, a former West Indies batsman, holds the overall record for the most T20 runs scored in a calendar year. Pooran scored 2331 runs in 76 T20 matches for eight different teams in 2024, including the Durban Super Giants, Lucknow Super Giants, MI Emirates, MI New York, Northern Superchargers (Men), Rangpur Riders, Trinbago Knight Riders, and West Indies.

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