Mumbai, Feb 3 (IANS): Opener Abhishek Sharma, who hammered a 54-ball 135 and claimed 2 wickets for three runs to help India thrash England by 150 runs in the fifth and final T20I, said his mentor Yuvraj Singh would have been really happy with his knock as he batted till the end of the innings, staying till the 18th over at the Wankhede Stadium here on Sunday.
The left-handed opener started at a breakneck pace, hitting Jofra Archer and Mark Wood for successive boundaries at the start of the innings but slowed down in the middle overs before hitting some big shots towards the end of his innings as he got out for 135 in the 18th over. Overall, he blasted 13 sixes, the highest in a T20I innings by an Indian batter.
“Probably he [mentor Yuvraj Singh] should be happy today. He's always wanted me to bat into the 15th, and 20th over, and I've tried to implement that," said Abhishek.
Yuvraj also took to social media to congratulate the young maestro on an historic innings.
“Well played @IamAbhiSharma4! That's where I want to see you! Proud of you,” read the post by Yuvraj on ‘X’.
The 24-year-old from Amritsar, Punjab, who made his mark in IPL 2024 with some superb batting for Sunrisers Hyderabad, thanked skipper Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir for backing him.
Abhishek blazed to the second-fastest fifty in 17 balls, and the second-fastest hundred off 37 balls by an Indian batter, helping India post a massive 247/9 in 20 overs. He then came back to claim two wickets and with Mohammed Shami bagging 3-25, India bundled out England for 97 runs to win the match by 150 runs with 57 balls to spare. He nearly broke Yuvraj Singh's record for the fastest fifty off 15 balls and Rohit Sharma's record for the swiftest 100 off 35 balls.
Abhishek called his knock a special one as his mother and sister were in the Stadium watching him and credited T20I skipper Suryakumar and coach Gambhir for backing his style of play. He said he felt it was his day and therefore went after the bowling from the start.
"It's a special one, coming for the country, always a great feeling. When I see it's my day, I always try to go from the first ball. And the way the coach and the captain have treated me from the first day. They've always wanted this intent, they've always backed me.
About his ability to play brilliantly-timed shots against some of England's best fast bowlers, Abhishek said he just reacted to the ball.
"When the opponents are bowling 140, 150-plus, you have to be ready a little earlier. Just react to the ball and play my shots. When you're hitting a world-class bowler over the covers [off Archer], it's always great, but I really liked the shots against Adil Rashid as well," said Abhishek.