Spring in the bat? Why New Zealand players inspected Abhishek Sharma's bat

India vs New Zealand, 3rd T20I: A video of New Zealand players checking Abhishek Sharma's bat after his 14-ball fifty went viral. The opener tore into the Black Caps' attack, powering India's 154-run chase in just 10 overs on Sunday.

Abhishek Sharma played an innings that made New Zealand pause and stare. After his breathtaking blitz in the third T20I at Guwahati on Sunday, January 25, a light-hearted moment involving New Zealand players inspecting his bat went viral, capturing just how extraordinary his hitting has been in recent months.

In the clip, New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner, opener Devon Conway and fast bowler Jacob Duffy are seen examining Abhishek’s bat with smiles all around — a scene that might remind 90s kids of the infamous “spring bat” rumours surrounding Ricky Ponting’s unbeaten 140 in the 2003 World Cup final against India, when fans joked that he must have had springs in his bat to hit so freely.

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For many of us at school, it genuinely felt believable that Ponting had a spring bat. In an era without social media, it remains remarkable how that rumour travelled so far — whispered in classrooms, playgrounds and gullies, fuelled purely by disbelief at how effortlessly he had dominated that day.

Yesterday, New Zealand players were checking Abhishek Sharma’s bat after the match.I don't recall any other player’s bat being checked like thisThe last time I remember opposition players checking a bat was during Sachin Tendulkar's erapic.twitter.com/SEgwHktqcn— Space Recorder (@1spacerecorder) January 26, 2026

Abhishek's record knock gave India an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. In Guwahati, he tore into anything and everything that was thrown at him, not playing a dot ball throughout his knock. Chasing a modest 154 in the third T20I, Sharma smashed an unbeaten 68 off just 20 balls, including a blistering 14-ball fifty — the second-fastest in Indian T20I history. Only Yuvraj Singh’s iconic 12-ball half-century in the 2007 World T20 remains quicker, a record Abhishek flirted with but ultimately fell just short of.