England’s head coach, Brendon McCullum, has praised India’s opening batter, Abhishek Sharma, after his incredible century during the fifth T20I of the five-match series at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. He smashed the formidable visiting bowling attack in all parts of the ground.
The southpaw became the second fastest to celebrate a T20I century in just 37 balls, behind only Rohit Sharma. It was also the left-hander’s second T20I ton in only 17 outings, as he has smashed 535 runs in just 16 innings at an average of 33.43 and a strike rate of 193.84, with the help of two centuries and two half-centuries at the best score of 135.
In reply to India’s 247/9 in their allotted 20 overs, England was folded up for just 97 runs as they suffered a record 150-run defeat. McCullum compares Abhishek with some of the special T20 legends of the game.
“We’ve seen so many players over the years in this format that have been able to do it – Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, AB de Villiers – and maybe Abhishek Sharma is putting his hand up as one of those players. First and foremost, the innings we saw from Abhishek is as good an innings as we’ve ever witnessed in T20 cricket.” The former New Zealand captain expressed to the media as quoted by India Today.
England’s former captain lauds Abhishek Sharma’s batting contribution
England didn’t enjoy their batting performance for the entire series. During the series opener at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, they were bundled out for just 132 runs in 20 overs before the visiting side chased it down with seven wickets in hand.
During the second encounter at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, the Jos Buttler-led side had a chance to seal the game but failed to overtake the brilliance of Tilak Verma, who remained unbeaten on 72 runs to carry them over the line. They finally got off the mark during the third game in Rajkot with a 26-run win.
But their batting couldn’t contribute much for the last two fixtures. In Pune, they had a great chance of chasing 182 runs, having been 62/1 in the powerplay. But they lost the plot since then and were bundled out for 166 in 19.4 overs. McCullum was not surprised to see Abhishek’s knock in that fashion.
“He’s not just doing it against any attack, he’s doing it against four guys who bowl 90mph and an absolute gun leg-spinner. I’m very realistic that when I see someone come out of the telephone box and play an innings like that, sometimes you throw all the different plans you want at it but if he’s hitting it like that, you really can’t stop it.” England’s head coach addressed.
Abhishek finished as the leading run-getter of the series with the help of 279 runs in five innings at an average of 55.80 and a strike rate of around 220. He nailed 24 boundaries and 22 over boundaries in the entire innings. He became one of the six Indian players to celebrate multiple T20I centuries in the 17th game of the format.
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England’s former captain and opening batter, Michael Vaughan, praised Sharma’s stylish bating.
“Wonderful player. I don’t think you can play any better than that. If anyone’s played a better T20 innings than that, I’ve not seen it. That was as pure and as stylish as you could ever hope for.” Vaughan highlighted on Cricbuzz.
England now focuses on the upcoming three-match ODI series in India, followed by the Champions Trophy 2025.