Not a Haaland copy: Abhishek Sharma reveals true meaning behind new celebration
Abhishek Sharma has revealed that his celebration after scoring his record-breaking hundred against Afghanistan wasn't a copy of Erling Haaland's famous one. The Indian opener revealed that it was actually him trying to create awareness about meditation and how it has helped him.
Abhishek produced a stunning record-breaking knock in the third T20I against Afghanistan, smashing a century off just 30 balls at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday. The blistering innings saw him overtake Rohit Sharma as the fastest Indian to a T20I hundred. Rohit had previously held the record after reaching three figures in 35 balls against Sri Lanka in 2017. This was also the fastest T20I hundred by a batter from a full member nation.
Abhishek raced to his hundred with 10 sixes and nine fours, taking India to 132 without loss in just 8.3 overs. It was his third T20I century and another statement performance in the series.
Having completed the milestone, Abhishek dropped to the ground and broke into a meditation pose. It was reminiscent of Manchester City star Haaland's trademark meditation celebration.
Speaking to the broadcasters after the match, Abhishek revealed that he has been using meditation as a part of his life for the past year to tackle the pressure of playing cricket.
The Indian opener said meditation had helped him a lot and he wanted to show the benefit of it through his celebration.
"This is something I have been doing for quite some time, six months to a year. I have focused a lot on meditation and manifestation because when you are playing cricket throughout the year, there are a lot of ups and downs as a cricketer."
"So how do you keep your mind stable in that? I think meditation really helped me a lot, and I just wanted that if someone sees it, if any cricketer feels that it actually really helped me from the last six to eight months."
"So that was the specific celebration for that, that this is something which is keeping me stable," said Abhishek.
The Indian opener's heroics with the bat helped India win the 3rd T20I by 127 runs and complete a 3-0 whitewash.- EndsPublished By: alan johnPublished On: Sep 18, 2026 03:00 IST
