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During his stay at the crease on Sunday, Abhishek hammered 7 fours and 13 sixes and helped the Men in Blue secure a big win by 150 runs.
Abhishek Sharma scored 135 runs from 54 balls for India in the 5th T20I against England. (Picture Credit: X/@BCCI)
Abhishek Sharma played one of the best knocks by an Indian batter in the shortest format of the game on Sunday, February 2, and helped the Suryakumar Yadav-led side secure a big win by 150 runs over the English team. The 24-year-old cricketer from Amritsar, who made his T20I debut for India on July 6, 2024, scored 135 runs from just 54 balls at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, and during his stay at the crease hammered seven fours and 13 sixes. He broke Shubman Gill’s record of scoring the most runs in a T20I match for India and now also holds the record for hitting the most sixes in a 20-over match for Men in Blue.
After playing a big role in India’s win, Abhishek said that he always had the conviction of playing an extraordinary innings, and the left-hander credited his elaborate pre-match preparations, such as recreating match scenarios at nets, for the incredible innings.
“You can ask any player; such matches are very few (and far between). I would say it was all possible because of the efforts I put in the practice, the backing I got from the coaches and the captain when I was not getting the runs or not bowling well,” Abhishek said in the post-match press conference.
“All these things calculate (work out well) at the end, and I had the belief that on my day, I will play an innings like this,” he added.
Abhishek said he enjoyed using the pace of the England fast bowlers as well as hitting their leg-spinner Adil Rashid for a cumulative 13 sixes.
“I do not remember half of them now, to be honest. But the way I used the pace of the bowlers over covers or even against Adil Rashid… it felt good. I try to generate the match scenarios in nets and use the bowlers the way I am going to face in the match,” Abhishek said.
The hard-hitting batsman said there is no feeling of competitiveness or insecurity between other contenders like Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
“I met Jaiswal and Shubman yesterday (on Saturday). We have been playing together since U-16, there is no such feeling. The only dream was to play for India, and since all three of us are playing, there is no bigger thing than that,” he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
