India’s left handed batter Abhishek Sharma showcased immense power hitting in the fifth and final T20I against England at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. Dismantling the opposition’s bowling attack. His aggressive approach in the powerplay provided India with a commanding start after England captain Jos Buttler opted to field first.
Abhishek reached his maiden T20I century in just 37 balls marking the second fastest hundred for India in the format. The record for the fastest century remains with Rohit Sharma who scored a hundred off 35 deliveries against Sri Lanka in 2017 at Indore. Previously Sanju Samson held the second spot having registered a 40 ball century against Bangladesh in Hyderabad.
Abhishek also registered the second quickest half century by an Indian in T20 surpassing KL Rahul’s 18 ball fifty against Scotland. The fastest T20I half century for an Indian still belongs to Yuvraj Singh who struck a 12 ball fifty against England in the inaugural T20 World Cup. The global record for the fastest T20I half century is held by Dipendra Singh Airee of Nepal who achieved the milestone in just 9 deliveries.
Despite an early setback when Sanju Samson was dismissed for 16 runs in the second over by Mark Wood. Abhishek remained undeterred. He particularly targeted Jofra Archer and Jamie Overton displaying fearless stroke play against their express pace. Throughout the series Abhishek faced 32 deliveries from Jofra Archer scoring 60 runs at an impressive strike rate of 187.40. His aggressive intent was evident as he frequently charged down the wicket countering the pace of Archer and Mark Wood with remarkable confidence.
Samson on the other hand began the match with a six off Jofra Archer pulling a bouncer for a maximum. However his struggles against short pitched deliveries continued as he was dismissed in an identical manner for the fifth time in the series. Across the five matches he managed only 35 runs off 29 short balls repeatedly getting caught in the deep.
Ahead of the match England made a solitary change bringing in Mark Wood in place of Saqib Mahmood. While India replaced Arshdeep Singh with experienced pacer Mohammed Shami.
India had already secured the series making this final encounter a dead rubber. However Abhishek Sharma’s record breaking innings ensured a thrilling contest leaving the English bowlers with no answers to his power hitting.
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