Abhishek Sharma announced his arrival to international cricket by smashing his maiden T20I hundred in just his second match for India in the ongoing series against Zimbabwe.

The southpaw bagged a four-ball duck on debut as India suffered a shocking 13-run defeat at the hands of Zimbabwe in the first T20I. However, he was a man on a mission in the second T20I of the five-match series in Harare on Sunday (July 7).

Opening the innings, Sharma started cautiously and once he got his eyes in, the ball only saw the boundary rope.

The swashbuckling left-hander was particularly severe on Wellington Masakadza, hitting him for three consecutive sixes to notch up his century in just 46 deliveries. He went for a fourth six but mistimed the shot to end one of the most entertaining debut hundreds, which was studded with seven boundaries and eight sixes.

Besides Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad (77 off 47) and Rinku Singh (48* off 22) also made significant contributions with the bat as the Men in Blue racked up a mammoth 234/2 on the board.

Abhishek Sharma's entertaining knock was duly appreciated by the cricket fraternity on social media platform X.

Here are the reactions:

Chasing the target, Zimbabwe’s innings folded for a paltry 134 in 18.4 overs. It was a listless batting display as no one manage to score a half-century on a rather flat pitch. Wessly Madhevere was the top scorer with 43 off 39 balls.

Ravi Bishnoi starred with the ball for India, claiming two wickets by conceding only 11 runs in his four overs.

Avesh Khan (3-15 in 3 overs) and Mukesh Kumar (3-37 in 3.4 overs) returned with three wickets each, helping the visitors to win the match by a huge margin of 100 runs and level the series at 1-1.