Jaiswal hits fastest 50 in IPL history

Yashasvi Jaiswal on Thursday hit the fastest 50 in Indian Premier League history, smashing his half-century in just 13 balls for Rajasthan Royals, including 26 runs in his first over.

Jaiswal hit six fours and three sixes on his way to his 50, including two maximums in the first two balls of the innings against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens.

His astonishing innings was also the second fastest in T20 history after India's Yuvraj Singh clubbed a half century off only 12 balls against England at the 2007 World Cup in South Africa.

Jaiswal, 21, moved to Mumbai as a child to pursue his cricketing dream, sleeping in a tent near the Azad Maidan sports ground and fetching balls in club games to help finance his career.

He won a place in the Mumbai state team in 2019 and became the youngest batsman, at 17 years and 292 days, to score a domestic one-day double century.

The left-hander's big break came when he was snapped up by Rajasthan Royals for $338,000 in the 2019 auction of the world's richest T20 tournament.

The previous quickest 50 in the IPL, scored in 14 balls, was by KL Rahul in 2018 for Kings XI Punjab, a feat matched by Pat Cummins in 2022 playing for Mumbai Indians.