Abhishek Sharma hits seven sixes in Asian Games final against Pakistan after Saim Ayub's celebration

India and Pakistan are facing each other in the gold medal match of the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya. The high-voltage contest has produced sharp drama and aggressive cricket. India won the toss and chose to bat first.

India lost an early wicket when young batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi was dismissed. What followed was something the Pakistan side probably had not imagined.

After dismissing Suryavanshi, Pakistan's part-time bowler Saim Ayub celebrated in a strange and aggressive manner. Abhishek Sharma, standing at the non-striker's end, was incensed by what he saw.

Abhishek did not like the Pakistani bowler's manner at all. Soon after, he showed an extremely aggressive side at the crease. Abhishek completed his half-century in just 20 balls. He targeted the entire Pakistan attack and rained fours and sixes. After Ayub's celebration, Abhishek single-handedly took on every Pakistani bowler and scored quickly. On a pitch that looked very difficult for batting, he hit seven sixes in his innings.

During this innings, Abhishek also set two big world records in T20 cricket. In 2026, he overtook power-hitters such as Dewald Brevis (653 balls) and Chris Gayle (724 balls). He became the second-fastest batter in the world to hit 100 sixes, doing so in just 651 balls. Andre Russell (589 balls, 2019) is first on the list.

Abhishek completed his 400 T20 sixes in just 3,513 balls. In doing so he overtook Chris Gayle (3,557 balls), Tim David (3,803 balls) and Nicholas Pooran (4,045 balls). He also became the second-fastest in the world on this measure, behind Andre Russell (3,027 balls).

Seeing Abhishek's aggressive form, it appears that had Ayub known his celebration would so enrage the Indian opener, he would never have made the mistake of provoking him. Thanks to Abhishek Sharma's aggressive and fearless batting, India pushed Pakistan onto the back foot in the powerplay itself and moved towards a big score.